Marcus Ericcson said his ninth-place finish in Bahrain, his first Formula One points finish in two-and-a-half years, felt like a weight being lifted from his shoulders.
Ericsson was one of the star performers of the Bahrain Grand Prix as one of just four drivers to complete a one-stop strategy -- the other three finished on the podium. The Sauber driver drove a long first stint before switching to Pirelli's hardest compound in the Bahrain range, which he nursed to the end of the race.
The Swedish driver has struggled to shake the negative 'pay driver' label since joining the grid in 2014 and there were questions over Sauber's decision to retain him for 2018 over Pascal Wehrlein or Ferrari junior Antonio Giovinazzi. After several near-misses to end his points-scoring drought, which was just shy of 1,000 days in length, Ericsson left Bahrain a relieved man.
"I've had some really difficult years and I've worked really hard with some really great performances and races," Ericsson said. "I've finished 11th four times since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix so I've been very close but there's always been something happening -- a Safety Car or something happened - when I've been looking to try and score those points. To be able to do that today has been a big relief and you can feel a weight lifting from your shoulders.
"We had to make a perfect race. We gave away a little bit of qualifying performance to focus more on the race, so that's why even though we went out in Q1 I was still very hopeful because I felt like we were going to have a stronger race car than a qualifying car this weekend."
The result was also Sauber's first finish in the top ten since last year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.