Stoffel Vandoorne says he was happy to out-qualify McLaren teammate Jenson Button on his Formula One debut at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
The Belgian was called in as a replacement for the injured Fernando Alonso who sustained several injuries after his collision with Esteban Gutierrez at the Australian Grand Prix a fortnight ago.
Vandoorne, who is one of the hottest prospects in F1, admits it was good to out-qualify his world champion teammate but is wary the race will be difficult.
“I think I can be pretty happy with today’s result. I didn’t really know what to expect, but from yesterday onwards I’ve felt quite confident in the car and today was all about fine-tuning it.
“It’s a good feeling to have done a decent job, but now our focus in only on tomorrow: to try to have a good race. It’s not really sunk in yet that tomorrow I’ll drive my first grand prix – I’ve just been focusing on qualifying so far – but now I’ve got some time to think, prepare for the race and do my very best to make a good job of it.
“There’s lots to analyse before tomorrow, lots of different strategies to go through, but I feel confident I can do an okay job. What it will bring us, I think it’s still too early to say, and I don’t want to make any predictions. So we’ll see.”
