Lando Norris was delighted to make the top 10 in his first Formula 1 qualifying but admits early nerves almost ruined the experience.
The young Briton was one of the stars in Melbourne as he scored P8 for a McLaren team that even he admits was only targeting making it out of Q1.
Instead, he would beat established names like Kimi Raikkonen and would be the lead Renault-powered car as both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo failed to make Q3.
“I enjoyed it to a point,” Norris told Sky Sports. “I was so nervous that it almost ruined the enjoyment.
“Enjoyment comes once I know I can complete a fast lap – that’s what makes me happy, to see it all work and see a good qualifying session.”
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Having reached a key milestone of making Q3 immediately, the key Norris says is turning it into a regular occurrence.
“We had three runs and used three sets of softs our aim was just to try and get it to Q2 but we pushed and got it to Q3,” he explained.
“It’s massive to see that it is possible to do it and in some ways, we’ve moved forward from last year.
“I feel I’ve maximized it as much as possible and we still need to do a lot of work to maintain these Q3’s, today isn’t a one-off.”
Also notable was the 19-year-old finishing 0.7s clear of teammate Carlos Sainz, who will start 18th after being caught out by Robert Kubica hitting the wall at the end of Q1.
