Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen believes that a front-row qualifying performance was possible for the Australian Grand Prix.
In qualifying, the Dutchman was outpaced by the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel and as a result, lines up in fourth on the grid after setting a time of 1:21.879, 0.715 seconds adrift of pole sitter Lewis Hamilton.
“Even with a small mistake I really enjoyed Qualifying today," said Verstappen after the all-important session. "It’s difficult to say what I expected heading into the session but it should have been a little bit better.
"I made a mistake on my last fast lap and went wide at turn 13 which lost me a few tenths compared to my previous run, we were still very close to Ferrari which is positive but maybe we could have been second.
"Mercedes were quite far ahead as expected, had I not made my mistake I think I would have only been about half a second off Lewis which is closer than in the past."
Looking ahead to Sunday's race and the opening round of the 2018 season, Verstappen remained upbeat and is eyeing a good result, believing that he can challenge Ferrari for a podium finish.
"All things considered and with the right strategy I think we can be competitive during the race tomorrow, with Mercedes I’m not sure but I think we can have a good fight with Ferrari," he said.
"We are hoping to go a bit longer with our tyre selection so if we stay out of trouble at the start we can settle in and have a strong race.
"I am happy with the pace and feel for the first race weekend, so I’m hopeful we can improve and move forward from here, not just tomorrow but for the rest of the season,” he added.
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Daniel Ricciardo struggled in qualifying, ending the session in fifth fastest, 0.273 seconds adrift of Verstappen while a three-place grid penalty means that he will start in eighth on the grid for his home race.
