Daniel Ricciardo declared himself pleased with a point following a recovery drive from the rear of the grid at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was facing the prospect of another race without points having been forced to start from 18th position after a change to a fifth power unit saw him incur a 10 place grid penalty.
His hopes were dealt a further blow by receiving a five second time penalty to be served during the race for not being able to fulfil the full engine penalty, after qualifying in 14th spot.
Despite the setback, the Western Australian produced an impressive salvage drive to finish 10th, which was set up by an inspired 50 lap stint on the soft tyres.
A late switch to super soft rubber saw the 25-year-old surge into the points in the closing stages.
The result arrives after a troublesome weekend in Canada that saw Ricciardo finish a lap down in 13th position.
“I was pleased with the car during the race,” said Ricciardo.
“I was trying to push as much as I could towards the end to catch (Sergio) Perez but the boys behind me were fighting for the podium and I had to respect that.
“I was really happy with the option tyre, the balance of the car worked well. To finish tenth is a good result from where we started.”
Red Bull Racing boss boss Christian Horner hailed Ricciardo’s performance considering the penalties imposed upon his driver.
“I think Ricciardo did a great job,” said Horner.
“He effectively ran the race back to front having started on the slower prime then go on to the option.
“He then had the five second penalty in the pit lane had he not had that he would have finished ahead of Perez in ninth.”
After a difficult weekend following the change of power unit, Horner is confident the team will be better suited for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next month.
“We should be better at Silverstone it should better suit the characteristics of our car,” added Horner.
“Obviously we need to make some improvements on the chassis side aswell, so we will just keep our heads down and push on.”