Christian Horner hoping for Red Bull progress at Australian Grand Prix

Red Bull boss Christian Horner claims he is pleased with Daniel Ricciardo's seventh place on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit were touted as a possible contender to finish nearest the Mercedes this season, but Ricciardo could only qualify on the fourth row of the grid and teammate Daniil Kyvat will start from 13th.

However, Horner is remaining optimistic that his drivers can deliver a positive result for Red Bull in Sunday's season-opening race at Albert Park.

He told reporters: "After a difficult build up to qualifying, Daniel did a great job to make it through to Q3 and qualify seventh, which was the optimum today considering the issues we face this weekend.

"Unfortunately Daniil's qualifying was compromised by a gearbox issue which limited his mileage, but he acquitted himself well, although he lost two tenths at Turn 15, which could have got him through to Q3.

"Hopefully from rows four and seven on the grid, we will be looking to make progress in tomorrow's race."

Mercedes took first and second on the grid, with Lewis Hamilton edging out teammate Nico Rosberg for pole position in Melbourne.