Nico Hulkenberg hopes to "keep it up" after claiming an impressive P3 in Spanish Grand Prix practice.
The Haas driver was just over a quarter of a second off the pace set by Max Verstappen in the second session in Barcelona, giving the American team their most competitive result in a while.
And Hulkenberg admits everything fell into place during his qualifying simulation.
"It felt decent, especially that lap on new softs, it gives you a lot of grip over one lap," the German explained post-practice.
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"Particularly in FP2, I think we picked up some performance which wasn’t quite there earlier.
"I’m satisfied with how it’s gone and hope we can keep it up for the next two days. There’s always more to explore, there’s always more to do, but I had a good rhythm today and felt at home in the car.
"I felt like I was in the driving seat which is important – especially around here – it’s been a positive Friday."
Teammate Kevin Magnussen was only 15th fastest in the second Haas but was enthused by the performance Hulkenberg had shown.
"Today was fun. The new layout is pretty full-on, it’s a good change," he said.
"FP1 was very good for us, we tried something that didn’t work in FP2 but Nico was fast, so we know the speed is in the car and we’ll work tonight as we always do to try and get on that pace tomorrow.
"It’s super tight, I was P15 and seven-tenths off P1 which is crazy," the Dane added, "but it is what it is and means we have something to fight for."
