Jenson Button described his return to the podium in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as a "bonus" after clinching the World Championship two weeks earlier in Brazil.
The Brawn driver almost took second place in a tight late battle with Red Bull's Mark Webber, but had to settle for the final step on the podium in what was only his second top three finish since his last win at Istanbul in June. Button had been 12sec behind Webber in the middle of the race before finding a lot more pace on soft tires in his final stint.
"I was struggling a bit with the prime tire but I tried to make the best out of it," he said. "After the second stop I found I had very good grip and had good initial turn-in, and that was why I was able to close down Mark."
He said he had thoroughly enjoyed the dice with Webber, which saw the two cars wheel to wheel under braking twice on the last lap.
"I couldn't make the move stick," said Button. "I was very excited by that battle but Mark is a very difficult person to overtake. We were clean but on the edge. It's disappointing not to get second place but I enjoyed the fight.
"Today was a bonus after winning title in Brazil, I enjoyed driving this weekend. After Brazil it would have been easy to say let's enjoy ourselves and not worry about Abu Dhabi – but we did.
"We should be proud of what we achieved. But [Red Bull] had the legs on us so we could not challenge."