Max Verstappen is hoping a different tyre approach can help Red Bull challenge Ferrari and Mercedes for victory at Sunday's Australian GP.The Dutchman, along with the rest of the grid, had no answer to the speed of Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, as the world champion claimed pole for the seventh time in Melbourne.Once again, it was engine performance which proved decisive as the German manufacturer unleashed their special "party mode" for extra power, while Red Bull slipped back due to the underperforming Renault unit.Nevertheless, Verstappen, who will start fourth, does think he could have gotten closer to Hamilton and overhauled the Ferrari's in front.“Even with a small mistake I really enjoyed qualifying today," the 20-year-old began. "It’s difficult to say what I expected heading into the session but it should have been a little bit better."I made a mistake on my last fast lap and went wide at Turn 13 which lost me a few tenths compared to my previous run, we were still very close to Ferrari which is positive but maybe we could have been second."Mercedes were quite far ahead as expected, had I not made my mistake I think I would have only been about half a second off Lewis which is closer than in the past."Red Bull do have a trick up their sleeve for the race, however, after opting to use the Supersoft tyre with both cars rather than the faster but less durable Ultrasoft, and potentially take advantage of a Mercedes weakness."We are hoping to go a bit longer with our tyre selection so if we stay out of trouble at the start we can settle in and have a strong race," Verstappen commented.

"All things considered and with the right strategy I think we can be competitive during the race tomorrow, with Mercedes I’m not sure but I think we can have a good fight with Ferrari."

More generally, Max is also pleased Red Bull's competitiveness in Australia, after the team changed approach for this year with the aim of fighting from the first race.

"I am happy with the pace and feel for the first race weekend, so I’m hopeful we can improve and move forward from here, not just tomorrow but for the rest of the season," he added.