Three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has said British rookie Lando Norris "looks terrific".
Norris, 19, from Bristol, will start his debut Grand Prix in Australia in eighth after a stellar lap of one minute 22.304 seconds in his McLaren.
The teenager comfortably out-qualified his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who will start 18th, and topped established names Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo.
Q3 comes to an end with @LandoNorris finishing in P8. Solid work from our rookie on his debut F1 weekend. #AusGP 🏁🤝 pic.twitter.com/J1KdV4OaaQ — McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16, 2019
Speaking to Press Association Sport, Stewart said: "It's either super amazing or these guys are not driving fast enough – and I don't think that's the case.
"I think he looks terrific. The big thing for him now is to be able to focus, mind-management, because he's clearly got the skills and doing it under pressure.
"To see young talent coming through successfully is a really nice thing to see."
Q3: Full classification Big things from @Max33Verstappen taking Red Bull-Honda to the second row 🆙 And @LandoNorris is the fastest Renault-powered car on his first F1 qualifying 👏#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/LXcNo02yAU — Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2019
Norris, who came second in last year's Formula Two championship, only clocked the 18th fastest time in the three practice sessions, but put it together when it counted in Saturday's qualifying.
He said: "Obviously I'm very happy with how it ended up.
"A lot of nerves going into it because I never managed to put it together in any other run I've done in P3 (third practice) or the whole of Friday so I'm just happy with how everything went."
When asked if he was preparing to be part of the third qualifying session at the start of the day, Norris said: "Definitely not.
"I think you can tell by doing three runs in Q1 that shows we were a bit unsure if we could, or I could, make it into Q2."
Zak Brown, chief executive officer of McLaren Racing, said: "In the short period of time that I've been here, which at times has felt very long, I would say today was probably been my most enjoyable day at the race track.
"I'm pleased for Lando, disappointed for Carlos because I think they both drove really well."
The McLaren driver is one of three who will be making their F1 debut on Sunday, alongside Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon and Williams driver George Russell.
Albon out-qualified his teammate Daniil Kvyat by 0.138 seconds and will start 13th on the grid, while there will be an all-Williams back row with Russell edging out fellow driver Robert Kubica into 19th.
The 21-year-old said he was satisfied with his lap of one minute 24.360 seconds – more than two seconds behind the fastest Q1 time set by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
"All three laps I did in Q1 I crossed the line with a smile on my face and really felt I got the most out of it (the car)," he said.
"But overall we want more than that.
"The main job now is to really help the team understand the weaknesses and how to go forward because I've got no interest in fighting Robert for 19th place.
"We want to work together to push the team forward."
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