Lando Norris has admitted a repeat of his Q3 result in Australia can’t be “guaranteed” at every race going forward.
The Briton surprised everyone by claiming eighth on the grid in Melbourne, marking McLaren’s first top 10 start since Monaco last year.
However, with the British team still accepting they have work to do to be consistently competitive in the midfield, Norris it won’t always be an attainable result.
“It’s not a guarantee that we’re going to be in Q3 every time, so I don’t think everybody needs to get their hopes up or expect us to be in Q3 from now on,” he told Motorsport.com.
“Obviously it’s what we would like to do and it’s our aim, but if we go into the next one and we happen to, for whatever reason, not be in Q2, I don’t think it [Q3] is something everybody needs to not expect.
“Hopefully, [if we can make Q3,] this kind of shows we’re in a better position than we thought.”
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In recent years, circuits like Bahrain would not favour McLaren due to their lack of straight-line speed and track characteristics is another variable Norris pointed at.
“It’s going to vary track to track, the midfield’s very tight, and in Q1, between the guys who are out and the guys who are in, [the gap] was about two tenths.
“One small mistake can make a difference, but I managed to do a lap that put me in the front side of that group.
“I can’t say yes or no, but it’s more than we thought and I hope that’s a similar case at other tracks.”