Max Verstappen finished third in Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver bringing new engine partner Honda it's first podium finish in F1 since Silverstone in 2008.
The Dutchman launched his race from P4 on the grid, a position he maintained in the early stages of the race.
A prolonged first stint on the Pirelli soft tyre allowed Verstappen to move up to second, but a change to the medium compound placed him back fourth from where he fought to catch up with and eventually pass Sebastian Vettel.
"I had to overtake Seb to get on the podium, which is not easy here, and challenging Lewis at the end - I'm pretty pleased with that," said Verstappen.
"To start the season on the podium and challenging Mercedes is a good start."
The Red Bull charger explained his strategy of running longer than his rivals on the soft rubber.
"The problem with this tyre was as soon as you got within one and a half second they just overheated really quickly, so I had to back off and try to just save my tyres and just keep driving basically because I felt I just couldn't place an attack, he added.
"That's what I did so I could extend it by ten laps compared to Seb.
"As soon as I got on to the medium tyre, the car felt really good.
"I had a really good balance and I was just slowly pushing up to him, but without destroying the tyres. And as soon as I had an opportunity to go for it I went for it, and luckily it paid off."
Verstappen set his sights on Hamilton up he road, and while he bridged the gap with the Mercedes driver, getting past was always going to be a difficult task.
"I think we were faster than him, but at this track it's just so hard to get past," he admitted. "Unfortunately it didn't work out."
Still, the first race of the year was a source of satisfaction for the 21-year-old, with a result that clearly validated the impressive progress enjoyed over the winter by Honda.
"I'm very happy to be third here and also very happy first of all for the team but also for Honda.
"I think in general the engine has been performing very well without any issues. I guess time will tell if we can fight for top spot.
"Since we started working together it's been amazing. I'm really enjoying it so it's also well-deserved for them."
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