Kevin Magnussen says it's "crazy" to think that there are faster cars than the Haas VF19, because his car already feels "very, very, very fast".
Magnussen qualified seventh behind team-mate Romain Grosjean, with the pair behind only Mercedes, Ferrari and a single Red Bull – putting them firmly at the head of the midfield pack.
However they were still more than a second adrift of Lewis Hamilton's pole time, leading Magnussen to express disbelief that quicker cars exist.
"All the cars are stronger than last year," he said. "It’s [the VF19] a very good car and it’s crazy to think that there are other cars that are faster than this. It feels very, very, very fast."
Related: Full Australian Grand Prix qualifying results
Three-tenths split him and Grosjean and the Danish driver put that down his own mistakes which contributed to a "shit" final lap.
"It was a shit lap," he added. "I think the car, I didn’t get it at all out of it, what I should have. Made a big mistake in Q1 which meant I had to use another set to get through and then it means you only have one set for Q3 which is crazy because we should have been so easily through on just one set in Q1.
"So that was my bad. Then you do a lap and you only have one shot in Q3 and that wasn’t too pretty [but] I think the car is pretty good. Very happy with the starting point and the car the team has given us to start the season."
Magnussen also expressed relief in discovering where Haas stand in the pecking order after months of speculation.
"Really happy. Very satisfied with this start to the season. We’ve been hopeful of our potential but no matter what it’s always a nerve-racking time because you think you know where you are but then you want to go and prove it on track.
"But today we did and we looked good. We looked good again. Over the winter it’s been a big challenge with these new regulations, it’s incredible that the team is able to still keep it up and be as competitive as we are today."
