Jenson Button admitted his podium finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix came down to deciding he wasn't going to get anywhere on the soft tyres and ditching them for the majority of the race.
While most drivers used softs until their final stints, Button got rid of his at his first pit stop and showed much better pace thereafter.
Having been passed by Fernando Alonso while grappling with the softs, Button was able to fight back and reclaim third from the Ferrari driver when they were both on hards later on.
"I just didn’t have the pace on the softer of the two tyres," Button said.
"We decided to put the harder tyres on for the last stint, and they really worked for me, especially in the last stint when I could hunt down Fernando.
"Ferrari I think struggle on the harder of the two tyres, and I was able to make the pass."
Alonso's move on Button had been a spectacular charge around the outside of the sweeping Ferradura turn, but Jenson suggested it wasn't as simple as Alonso being heroic.
"Fernando was very close out of turn five, so I covered the line into turn six, normally an easy place to block," Button said.
"But I looked at where he was and when I looked back forwards there was a load of debris on the inside.
"As soon as I saw that I didn’t want to drive through it, and I couldn't pull to the left because Fernando was already there, so I had to back out of it and just pull in behind him.
"So that was disappointing or a little unlucky."
Once past Alonso, Button tried to chase down Sebastian Vettel for second, but even with a gearbox issue, the Red Bull was out of the McLaren's reach.
"Third was as high as we could get - I was driving every lap like it was qualifying but I couldn't catch Seb," said Button.