Pierre Gasly qualified a remarkable fourth for the Dutch Grand Prix, a position the AlphaTauri hopes to hold at the outset in Sunday's race to capitalize on any events that may happen ahead of him.
While Gasly never clocked in lower then tenth in this weekend's practice sessions, the Frenchman wasn't satisfied with the overall performance of his AT02.
But come qualifying, improvements came to the fore and he steadily made his way to Q3 for the tenth time this season.
In the shootout, his final flyer was good enough for fourth, with a time that was 0.593s adrift from pace setter Max Verstappen but quicker than his Ferrari rivals just behind.
"Honestly, it's been a really good afternoon for us, especially after yesterday, we didn't look great," Gasly told Sky F1.
"Also this morning, not ideal, but for what ever reason the car really felt great in qualie.
"We managed to find some extra time going into qualie, and it's unbelievable to qualify in front of the two Ferraris, of course it's really good."
©AlphaTauri
Like his colleagues, Gasly was full of praise for Zandvoort's layout. While the track's full-throttle banking was highlighted by many, the AlphaTauri charger was particularly impressed with the circuit's other banked curve, the Turn 3 Hugenholtzbocht corner through which drivers take an untypical high line.
"As you get into it, you always get the feeling you're not going to turn the car," he said. "
"It seems like you're sliding into a toboggan or something, you just get the grip in the middle and then you can get really on the power.
"The car kind of turns on itself. It's really nice, I've never experienced anything like this in a Formula 1 car."
Asked if he'll be able to hold his own at the start with both Ferraris on his tail, Gasly hopes he can as overtaking opportunities are likely to be few and in between on Sunday.
But the 25-year-old is also banking on the incidents that are likely to occur to help set him up for good result.
"If we get a good start, I believe so [hold his own], we know how difficult it is to overtake here," he said.
"So qualie was definitely the most important, and then hopefully yes, I can battle it out. Things can happen and we'll try to capitalize on it.
"I think we'll have a great race, it's not going to be easy, 72 laps, a lot of things happening, a lot of people going off. I think it should be a pretty exciting one."
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