Max Chilton has said that he is "reasonably happy" with his qualifying result as his Marussia came close to reaching Q2 for the first time.

In wet conditions in Melbourne, the Englishman outqualified teammate Jules Bianchi as he starts the Australian Grand Prix from 17th on the grid and Chilton was positive about his result, despite being eliminated in the first session.

He was quoted by The Mirror as saying: "I was really pleased with my lap on the opening run and felt that a few issues from FP3 had really come together.

"Bar one small mistake it was a clean lap. There was more to come of course but I'm reasonably happy given all the factors that we've experienced.

"It would have been nice to improve as we were close to Q2 but the weather intervened, so this is where we will start the race and that is what we have to focus on now."

Chilton beat Bianchi for only the third time since joining Marussia in 2013.