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Liam Lawson produced his best ever Formula 1 finish for Red Bull but still expressed some frustration at his sixth placing at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The New Zealander produced a slick drive, recording his 10th top-10 finish of the season in a race won by world championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
However, there was still a feeling of "what-if" for Lawson, who felt it could have been an even better day if he'd qualified higher up the field at the newly unveiled Madring circuit.
"I think the speed this weekend, especially in quali yesterday was very strong," he told Sky Sports F1
"It's a shame we couldn't maximise Q3 because I think we had the potential to have both cars right up there in the top five.
"But yeah, it's a good result from where we started. So I'm pretty happy."
His sixth-place finish keeps Lawson ninth in the drivers' championship and eyeing another possible drive for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he secured his career-best fifth placed finish last year.
It will depend on the fitness of usual Red Bull driver Isack Hadjer, whose wrist injury has sidelined him from the last three Grands Prix with injury, allowing Lawson a decent chance to show his wares, having been promoted as replacement from stablemate Racing Bulls.
Lawson impressed in the early stages in Madrid, passing Franco Colapinto for sixth before a virtual safety car, triggered by Lance Stroll's retirement, changed the strategic picture.
Having started on the hard tyre with the intention of extending his opening stint, Lawson was unable to take advantage of the VSC in the same way as several drivers around him.
"That was frustrating for us," Lawson said.
"Starting on the hard we obviously planned on going long, and unfortunately the VSC was not ideal. And I just passed Franco as well, and taking a lot of risk to do it.
"It's very hard to overtake here. So yeah, not ideal strategy-wise, but I think from where we started a P6 is okay."
Antonelli again
Antonelli moved a mighty step closer to the title after winning the first Spanish Grand Prix held at Madrid's new circuit with a slice of luck on the side.
The 20-year-old Italian's victory, his eighth win of the season, stretched his championship lead to 81 points after 14 rounds.
Antonelli benefited from a well-timed virtual safety car (VSC) and calamitous McLaren pitstop on lap 16 of 57 that robbed pole-sitter and early leader Lando Norris of a likely win on a track where overtaking proved almost impossible.
"I think today it's good to win but it doesn't feel as good because I think Lando today deserved the win but overall, we take it," Antonelli said.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was second with Norris third. Antonelli now has 292 points to closest rival and teammate George Russell, who finished fifth, on 211.
"There was nothing I could do... just luck not on our side," said Norris.
"I felt like we deserved it today but that's racing sometimes.
"I feel like I drove a perfect race today, just luck wasn't with me."
Opening battle
Antonelli twice had to give the lead back to Norris on the opening lap after going off and gaining advantage in a battle through the opening corners but the Briton then settled into a rhythm and began to pull away.
Verstappen also gained a place that he had to hand back to Antonelli and lost and gained position to Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who then suffered a brake problem that eventually forced the seven-time world champion to retire.
Norris was more than six seconds clear with everything seemingly under control when Aston Martin's Lance Stroll triggered the VSC by stopping on track on lap 14.
Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell all came in for a cheap pitstop but Norris was unable to do so, having already gone past the entry point, and by the time he came around again the VSC had ended.
McLaren called him in anyway on lap 16 for a switch to hard tyres but he was stopped for seven seconds and returned to the track in fifth place but effectively fourth with new leader Charles Leclerc, who ended up fourth for Ferrari, yet to stop.
That proved the defining moment, with the remainder of the afternoon effectively a high-speed procession to the chequered flag without major incident - despite fears that there could be multiple crashes and red flags as seen in earlier junior races.
Antonelli crossed the line 4.3 seconds clear of Verstappen with Norris a further 0.7 behind.
- Reuters, additional reporting RNZ