Daniel Ricciardo put in a hard day of work at Suzuka, racing through the field to conquer a fourth-place finish that seemed "out of reach" for the Aussie beforehand.
The Red Bull driver launched his Japanese Grand Prix from P15 on the grid, the bit between his teeth after his unfortunate demise from qualifying the day before.
An aggressive but consistent effort saw Ricciardo make remarkable progress in the first stage of the race, eventually settling into fourth after 18 laps and keeping out of trouble thereafter.
"Yeah, it is a good result, obviously all things considered," Ricciardo said.
"Where I started, I honestly didn’t know where I was going to come today."
Chatting on the grid before the race with Helmut Marko, Ricciardo was told by the Red Bull motorsport boss that P4 was an unlikely prospect. The Honey Badger admitted he also had his doubts.
"It was good to come through the field and on the grid Helmut actually said that he thought fourth place was a little optimistic and possibly out of reach today.
"So, fourth is like a little victory from the back on this track and it was good to see our strong pace against Ferrari.
"A podium would have been even sweeter but I can’t complain with the result and I’m pleased for the team. All that’s left to say is, arigatooooo Japan!"
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