Jean-Eric Vergne insists he is 'not stressed' over his qualifying pace issues

The Frenchman has turned in some impressive race drives this year and qualified a strong 11th in Australia. But he accepts that he needs to find the right balance between aggression and caution in qualifying to get the best out of himself.

"It's just experience," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT what he needs to do to improve in qualifying. "One time you do not push enough, one time you push too hard. How do you find the right middle? Hopefully it will be soon.

"I will find it and I'm not stressed about it. I take it not as a problem but as something that I need to improve.

"[Qualifying is] the first time I drive with low fuel, which makes the car a little bit different to drive. It's easy to miss out in qualifying."

Despite his qualifying difficulties, Vergne is happy with the start he has made to the season.

In Malaysia, he claimed his first points for eighth place after climbing the order during the first stint of the race while running on intermediates when most switched to full wets.

Vergne has no doubts that he can achieve such results consistently as his experience builds.

"There have been a lot of good things from the first race that encourage me and the team. It's just a question of time and everything will be right.

"We can have some strong results. I'm not worried and the team is not worried, we will just keep working and it will pay off."

Scuderia Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost has backed the Frenchman to improve in qualifying.

"Jean-Eric is a little bit too aggressive in qualifying," Tost told this week's AUTOSPORT magazine. "But I am convinced he will change this."