Lewis Hamilton has admitted that it was "nice to prove people wrong" following his impressive showing in the Australian Grand Prix last weekend.
The Mercedes driver, who left McLaren in the summer, had been criticised for the decision to depart his boyhood club, but he finished fifth in Melbourne on Sunday.
"It's nice to prove people wrong. It has been everyone, particularly all the ex-drivers commenting that it was the worst decision ever," he told The Telegraph.
"They don't know what they're talking about. They're either this way or that, when the truth is the bit in the middle."
Hamilton won the Formula 1 title in 2008.