Jaime Alguersuari says he was surprised to finish the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in ninth place, from 17th on the grid.
The 20-year-old Spaniard was one of several cars to pit at the end of the first lap when the safety car came out. He then found himself in the thick of the title battle early in the race, when Mark Webber and Felipe Massa emerged from their pit stops right behind the Toro Rosso. He let Webber through, but remained ahead of Massa for the rest of the race to finish just six seconds behind Webber in ninth.
"I am very happy with this result, my third points finish of the season," Alguersuari said. "To be honest, I am not quite sure how I ended up ninth, having started 17th. I was very lucky not to be involved in the [Michael] Schumacher accident on the opening lap and after that, it was a good strategic choice to change tires immediately the safety car came out.
"I was able to have an edge over Massa in sector three and maintain the distance in the first two sectors, even though he was probably fractionally faster than me.
"I am very happy with the team because they did a good job on the strategy so for everyone, this ninth place is well deserved and a nice way to end the season."