Wehrlein happy with first race back in 2017

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Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein is delighted to be back in the saddle again after missing the first two Grand Prix races of 2017.

Wehrlein suffered a back injury in an accident while competing in the Race of Champions in January. His fitness routine was disrupted, forcing him to sit out events in Australia and China.

In his first race back at Bahrain, Wehrlein had a solid weekend. Qualifying in a respectable 13th place on Saturday, he went on to finish just outside the points in 11th.

"I am very satisfied with how the weekend went," he said after the race. "It was a tough race, as we decided to only make one pit stop.

"It is obviously a pity that we have missed this point by only one position," he admitted. "The result is the maximum that we could have achieved today."

Wehrlein said his fitness level was already back to more or less where it should be, thanks to the extra weeks off.

"I'm surprised how good it is," Wehrlein told Motorsport.com. "You can see what a big change these two weeks of training have been to me.

"This race was great in terms of performance," he added. "Mentally it was a great weekend. I know what I can do and I know I can be quick.

"I'm really happy to come back like this, it's like I've never been away."

He did however admit that watching from the sidelines for the last two races had been difficult for him.

Sauber's Kaltenborn rubbishes Wehrlein insinuations

"I heard some crazy comments from other people about myself, what I should do or what they would do in my situation even though they don't know what my situation was.

"[Melbourne] was just too early. It was eight weeks after three broken vertebrae. I couldn't move for 5 weeks

"The best answer is to show the performance on track and to come back like this," he declared. "I came back like I never had a break."

Even so, the race weekend had taken its toll physically.

"I feel it now. Of course after a long race I have some pain in my back. I'm quite tired as well, but I guess everyone is after the heat.

"Nevertheless, I am already looking forward to the next Grand Prix!"

GALLERY: All the action from the Bahrain Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.