Max Verstappen says he only has himself to blame for failing to beat the Ferraris to a spot on the front row of the grid.
Verstappen will start tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix from fourth, behind both Ferraris. Red Bull has shown promising pace throughout pre-season testing and Friday practice in Melbourne, but its pole position challenge faltered as Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton pulled away at the end of Q3
Had it not been for a mistake at Turn 13 on his final Q3 effort, Verstappen reckons he would have been on the front row of the grid alongside polesitter Lewis Hamilton.
"Yeah I think everybody saw on the replay I went wide in Turn 13 so I lost two tenths there compared to my previous lap but in general it was a good qualifying. Lewis seems to be quite front ahead but we would've put a clean lap together, say half a second, but then with the power mode they have which is three or four tenths which is not too bad."
Despite the substantial 0.7s gap to pole, Verstappen is happy with the progress Red Bull has made over the winter and expects to be more competitive as the season progresses.
"The car is competitive and compared to the beginning to the start of last year it's a massive step forward. The car itself has been behaving so strongly and yeah I'm happy with that.
"In general the car was behaving really well. Of course it can always be a little bit better so we just have to look for the future but of course even every track is different. But could've have a little bit more front grip."