Glock hopeful of Virgin progress

Despite being optimistic of a step forward during the winter, Glock and his team have found themselves far from the leading times and fighting to make the grid under the 107 per cent rule.

Glock qualified in 21st position, and was over 2.5 seconds off the time needed to go into Q2.

But the German is confident his team has the strength to move forward as the season progresses.

"The first weekend of the new season has been a tough test for us and today we got the chance to see where we stand and how we need to move forward," he said. "At the end of the day though, fighting for a time within 107% of the leaders is not what we're here for and we can see now where we are and what we need to do to progress.

"We are a really strong team and now we have to bring the car up to where we need it to be.

"As for tomorrow, the opening race of the season, we will be focusing on staying reliable and bringing both cars to the finish as the reward for everyone's hard work."

Team-mate Jerome D'Ambrosio qualified in 22nd, a second behind Glock, but was pleased with his efforts in his first ever qualifying session.

"I'm very happy with the progress made this weekend and this has ensured we can look forward to the race tomorrow," he said. "On a personal level this was my first qualifying session and I was able to see exactly what was required and where I have to improve.

"I will use all the information - good and bad - to see what I need to work on so I can keep improving. But for now I am happy that things went our way today and I hope I can have a positive experience in my first Formula 1 race tomorrow."