Max Verstappen began his 2016 season with an outstanding performance in Melbourne, securing an impressive 5th place on tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix grid, and the coveted 'best of the rest' status.
The Dutchman brought his Toro Rosso through the first two segments with relative ease, although interspersed with moments of tension, and then put in a remarkable, albeit short, effort in Q3.
Like his rivals, Max sat out the remaining minutes of the session in order to save tyres for tomorrow's race.
"I'm very happy, we didn't expect to be this good, especially after this morning when I was struggling a bit with the balance," explained the ecstatic driver.
"To turn around the car like this is a great achievement by the whole team. It's not so easy, especially with the new qualifying, and to be P5 behind Mercedes and Ferrari is perfect."
"It was definitely more pressure and more exciting. You only get one lap and if you make a mistake you are out, so for us… we were asking people how they thought qualifying was because for us it was quite intense."
While circumstances linked with how the new qualifying format evolved may have inded given him a slight unpredictable edge, Verstappen attributed the remarkable performance to an efficient Toro Rosso car/strategy package.
"It's everything together, the car, the power unit, and I think we had good timing as well. But we have to be realistic, as Mercedes and Ferrari are still faster, but we'll try to keep up and maintain our position.
"This year, the way that the engine is working, it's a bit easier for us. So normally it should be quite positive for us also in the race. I wouldn't say we will be worse in the race.
"From our long run pace in Barcelona and this morning I think we have a chance to maintain position. We have to be realistic to beat a Mercedes or Ferrari, it will be very difficult."
As he improves and gradually creeps up the grid, Verstappen's view at the front is also gradually improving.
"Yes", acknowledged the young prodigy. "It's getting better and better, still four to go..."
As it happened: Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix
F1i's Australian Grand Prix preview
2016 F1 season: Team-by-team preview
