Lewis Hamilton declared victory is possible at the Australian Grand Prix after a better-than-expected qualifying session in Melbourne.
The seven-time world champion will line up on the second row for Sunday's race as Mercedes found their groove in qualifying. Max Verstappen took pole position but his closest challenger was George Russell in second place, with Hamilton hot on their heels.
"This is totally unexpected and I'm really proud of the team," declared Hamilton as he was greeted after the session by a huge roar from the Albert Park crowd. The Brit was clearly relieved to be celebrating a good result after a difficult start to the new Formula 1 season.
He added: "George did a fantastic job there today and for us to be up there on the two front rows is honestly a dream for us. We're all working as hard as we can to get right back up the front so to be this close to the Red Bull is honestly incredible.
"We hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money, and hope the weather is good. The second lap wasn't as good as the first one. I did get a little bit further ahead in the last sector but ultimately I lost out a little bit in the beginning.
"But I'm not disappointed – I'm super grateful for this position and I'm going to work as hard as I can to move forward tomorrow." Both Hamilton and Russell are well-placed to score big points in Sunday's race, though they will be wary of Fernando Alonso lining up behind them on the grid.
Despite the Silver Arrows' difficulties, though, Hamilton says he is not looking over his shoulder. He made it clear that his goal in the race is not just to consolidate what he has, but to give Verstappen a race.
Asked about his ambitions for Sunday, he replied with a grin: "To get to first!" It went down well with the fans, who again cheered loudly to roar their approval of the seven-time world champion's new-found confidence.
His demeanour was noticeably different to how it was less than two weeks ago, after the race in Jeddah when he declared the Red Bull to be the fastest F1 car he has ever seen and made it clear he did not believes his W14 machine could compete.
