Max Chilton was left to ponder what might have been after his elimination from the opening phase of Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session in Melbourne, with the Marussia driver’s final Q1 lap being ruined by a series of yellow flags.
The Briton, who was forced to back off when Caterham's Charles Pic and Sauber driver Esteban Gutiérrez crashed in the final stages of Q1, finished 0.762 seconds adrift of team-mate Jules Bianchi, but felt encouraged by his overall performance.
"For my first qualifying it was pretty challenging, but I’m really happy with it," Chilton told Sky Sports. "It was a real shame about the yellow flags as I had to back out and lost a lot of time. But we finished ahead of Caterham and that’s what we wanted. The car was a real joy to drive and we’re happy with our job.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s Grand Prix, Chilton is confident that Marussia can perform well in relation to key rivals Caterham in both dry and wet conditions.
"It looks like it will be dry on Sunday and I know we’ve got a quick car in the dry, so either way we’re comfortable," he added. "Hopefully we can bring both cars home."
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17. |  P. Maldonado | Williams | 01:47.614 | 11 |
| 18. | E. Gutiérrez | Sauber | 01:47.776 | 10 |
| 19. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 01:48.147 | 11 |
| 20. | M. Chilton | Marussia | 01:48.909 | 11 |
| 21. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 01:49.519 | 11 |
| 22. | C. Pic | Caterham | 01:50.626 | 10 |
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