Romain Grosjean will start sixth for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix – matching his stunning result from last season – and declared himself "proud" as he split the two Red Bull cars.
Although the Frenchman was 0.762s off pole pace, he qualified just four-hundredths shy of fifth-placed Max Verstappen and is therefore hopeful of finally ending his points drought on Sunday.
"It was a really good qualifying. We produced some good setup work on the car and we’ve built our pace through the weekend," said Grosjean. "I’m very happy we could get into Q3 using only one set [of tyres] in Q2. It meant we could have more fun and play around in Q3.
"I was happy with the car. It all went very well, and the balance was great. I was hoping we’d stay in P4. I was thinking, ‘Come on, that can stay there.’
"The truth is that other teams are faster, but I’m very proud to be in between the two Red Bulls, and I’m happy that Kevin is P8. We’ve got both cars in the top 10 for the race tomorrow and, hopefully, we get some points."
Team-mate Kevin Magnussen added: “I think the team did a really good job today with the car being so good. Romain did a really good lap, and we’ve been quick all day. I think P6 and P8 are pretty good starting positions for tomorrow.
"We’ll see how Sunday goes. Our pace yesterday in FP2 on the long runs was pretty good. We’ll take what we can get, but we need to get those points. We’re going to keep our feet on the ground and see what we can get tomorrow."
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