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.

"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

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

2 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

3 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

5 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

6 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

7 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

8 hours ago