Romain Grosjean admitted he was shocked to finish on the podium after starting down in 17th after a qualifying mistake from the Lotus team.
The Frenchman was thoroughly disappointed on Saturday but made the most of his free tyre choice to progress through the field and eventually finish 3rd behind Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg.
When asked if he expected the result, he replied: “Not at all. I would not have bet a penny on me being on podium. We did a very brave strategy. It paid off and we’re back on the podium. The team were fantastic and I’m very proud.”
On his way to third, he had to pass team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who put up a fight and even made contact at one point which led to the team using expletives over the radio to request the Finn to move over.
“Kimi was in a difficult situation,” said Grosjean. “I went for the outside and he didn’t see [me at] that point. I lost a little bit of time. But it’s good that we’re on the podium and we still have a very strong car for the next races.”
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