Nyck de Vries managed to make it to Q2 for the first time in Australia. The AlphaTauri driver had a solid qualifying session and will start 15th on Sunday. The Dutchman did not manage to trump his teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the first time this year, but can be satisfied with the result.

"I am satisfied in itself, I think it was a positive session, " De Vries told Viaplay. "Every lap was actually quite competitive. But I'm disappointed with our final run, because the conditions were constantly changing and it was clear that the warm-up would be a challenge."

Tricky conditions

He continued: "That changed a bit at the end of the session and you didn't need that second and third lap anymore, but to push on my last set during the out-lap was just a bit too much. Then I did lose the peak of the tyres on my second lap anyway, so we just didn't get it all together."

Asked if he had hoped for Q3, De Vries replied that that was not in the cards for now. " Q3 would not have been realistic I don't think," said the AlphaTauri driver. He would have preferred to be closer to the top ten, though, so that he could possibly take advantage of events during the race to perhaps grab a point. "At least it is a step forward and it was a positive session, but it shows how exactly it comes. It's certainly not obvious," De Vries concluded.