Daniel Ricciardo says he is hopeful of his second top-10 finish of the season, after qualifying ninth for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
The Australian out-qualified McLaren teammate Lando Norris for the first time in 2022 after Norris had a lap time deleted for going off the track and was knocked out in Q2.
Ricciardo said the weekend had been a learning curve for the team, who bought new car upgrades to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
He said practice sessions had been "tricky" as the team tried to perfect the set-up of their car.
But once qualifying started, Ricciardo looked assured of a top-10 start, which the Australian hopes is a sign of greater things to come as he prepares to set a new Australian record of 216 F1 starts.
"I think we're still fighting a little bit in some areas so I'm just trying to perfect it," he said.
"On paper, ninth is a solid place to start and we'll keep chipping away.
"So hopefully we'll keep finding bits and pieces and get some solid points."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start the Spanish Grand Prix on pole after a blistering lap at the end of qualifying.
The championship leader spun his car on his first flying lap in Q3, meaning he had one chance to snatch pole away from Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Leclerc then blitzed the field with a 1 minute 18.750, three-tenths quicker than Verstappen, who did not complete a second lap after reporting a loss of power.
