Vandoorne expresses disappointment after missing out on Q3

McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne believes he and team-mate Fernando Alonso had the potential to reach Q3 in Australia after they both narrowly missed out on the top ten shoot-out.

Vandoorne will start 11th with Alonso in 10th after Valtteri Bottas’ five-place grid penalty.

The McLaren duo were beaten to Q3 by both Renaults and both Haas cars, and Vandoorne said: “We’re a bit disappointed not to be in Q3 with both cars.

“It’s a shame as we showed some good promise yesterday in the dry during practice.

“From our side, there is some work to do – the other midfield teams are close and have improved a bit since yesterday, it seems – so we need to see where we lost out.

“There was definitely potential there for us to make a good step forward today and we’ve missed out on that.”

Vandoorne also looked ahead to tomorrow’s race, and is targeting a points finish, saying: “Overtaking is difficult here, and as it’s the first race of the season there’s usually a lot of drama.

“Our race pace looks quite promising, so we need to be sharp and ready for anything.

“The weather might play into it a bit too, so if we can have a clean race and stay out of trouble, hopefully there are some points on the cards.”