Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes are more than capable of fighting back to the top after falling down the pecking order in the opening races of the season.
From a dominant pole and first half to the race in Australia, it has gone downhill since with the world champion's behind Ferrari both in Bahrain and China with Red Bull right on their tails.
The gap between the top three teams is very small though, with strategy more than capable of making the difference rather than outright performance.
Even so: "We've lost performance since Melbourne, and maybe more so [in China]," Hamilton admitted to Motorsport.com.
"We've got some improving to do, but that's not impossible. What this team has shown over the years is that we are great at staying united, and continuing to barrel on and keep working.
"So I know everyone here and back at the factory is just going to keep pushing as hard as possible."
The tyres have been identified as the main area for improvement, having struggled to get the compounds into their right operating windows, but also a much more level playing field on engine performance, particularly with Ferrari, has been critical.
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Due to the current situation, therefore, the 33-year-old made an interesting admission regarding the championship.
"If it continues the way it is, it's going to be very tough to win," Hamilton conceded. "But if there's an opportunity, and we were to finish on top, it would mean even more as it's even a tougher season than before."
