Sebastian Vettel says "things are starting to click" after making Q3 for the first time with Aston Martin at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion has struggled to match teammate Lance Stroll since joining from Ferrari but will start seven places ahead of the Canadian on Sunday at Portimao.
And after securing 10th on the grid, Vettel is hopeful he can convert it into his first points for Aston on Sunday.
“I am feeling happier after that session, although not so happy with the final lap because I think I had a little bit more in me," he admitted to Sky Sports.
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"The wind direction had changed again, and I lost some time as a result, which is costly when the midfield is so tight, but we are starting inside the top 10 and will be in the middle of a big fight for points."
Vettel, like all drivers who have changed teams or joined the F1 grid this season, has been making up for a lack of testing, with the German further hindered by poor reliability in Bahrain.
But there are signs the 33-year-old is getting fully settled in the AMR21.
"There is still a lot of hard work ahead of us but things are starting to click for me and become a bit more automatic, which is helping me focus more on my driving," he explained.
"I am still learning about the car, but today I felt more comfortable.
"The conditions were tricky despite the sunshine and the gusts of wind were quite unpredictable and made the car feel quite light.
"But in Q1 I started to step up and felt quite a bit more comfortable by the second run in Q1. Then Q2 and we made it to Q3.
"The wind is quite strong in some places so it doesn’t make it that easy to anticipate," he added. “At some stages, you were going faster and didn’t know why, and at other stages was going slower and didn’t know why.
“Obviously you can’t see the wind direction and intensity. It was quite gusty so I had some laps where I just lost the car. It just felt like I did something wrong, but it turned out to be a gust
“I think that was the same for all of us. Overall, though, it was a better session for me. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
