Renault’s Jolyon Palmer says he was happy to make Q2 on his Formula One debut in Melbourne.
Palmer will start 14th on the grid, one place ahead of teammate Kevin Magnussen.
The 2014 GP2 champion admits it was a surprise to progress into the second segment of qualifying.
“It was a pretty busy qualifying, obviously as it was the first one with the new system. It really built up and we were going quicker and quicker all the time so you had to make sure you kept your head above the water and not get knocked out.
“We’re happy to be in Q2, we didn’t really expect much more. I hadn’t done many laps in the dry here so I was trying to build up to it a little bit and then on the last lap, I knew I had to give it everything. It was enough to make Q2 so happy days.”
