Lewis Hamilton got his 2010 Formula 1 campaign off to a satisfactory start on Sunday, finishing the Bahrain Grand Prix in third place.
The McLaren superstar started from fourth place on the grid, but lost a position to Mercedes' Nico Rosberg on the opening lap. However, he recovered to reclaim the position from the German, after Mercedes held Rosberg in his pit box to avoid a potential clash with the incoming Jenson Button, Hamilton's team-mate.
Hamilton then moved up to third after overtaking Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who had dropped back from his spot at the front of the field due to engine problems.
"I had quite a good race," said the 2008 champion.
"Unfortunately I lost a bit of ground, I braked a little bit later into turn four, locked up, went a little bit wide, and that got us into a very bad position and Rosberg got past me.
"Unfortunately I was held up behind Rosberg for the first half of the race.
"I was much faster I think, but it's very difficult to follow here while looking after your tyres.
"It's a strong result for me and the team, and probably more than we expected."
Button admitted that he was too cautious during the race, coming home seventh.
"I'm a bit sad we pitted when we did because I felt I had saved my tyres a bit too much," Button told the BBC. "The last two laps on the softs I was pushing and immediately caught up with (Mark) Webber. And then we pitted. I was a little bit conservative.
"I think we're pretty good at looking after our tyres. It was a good first race, I'm reasonably happy with that."