Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes are in a stronger position to compete against Ferrari and Red Bull after finishing fourth in practice at the Monaco GP.
Despite winning the previous two races, including a dominant display in Spain, the world champion heads to Monte Carlo with low expectations after the team struggled for pace around the streets 12 months ago with rivals Ferrari and Red Bull even closer this year.
Indeed, as Daniel Ricciardo dominated, Hamilton was left almost seven-tenths off the Australian in fourth but to be just a tenth behind his main championship threat Sebastian Vettel meant the Briton was somewhat satisfied.
“It’s been an ok day,” he said in the paddock afterwards. “I said yesterday the Red Bulls were going to be quick which they were today. As expected, we struggled a little bit more.
“The car felt good in some places but in others it felt bad. So we have got some things to work on, but we’re not completely in the dark. We’re in a much better place than we were last year.
“We’re closer to Red Bull and Ferrari than I expected, but we’re still a few tenths off."
The threat posed by Mercedes' engine modes in qualifying remains, even if Max Verstappen has played down their significance, but pacesetter Ricciardo knows the Milton Keynes outfit still has plenty to do.
“The intention this weekend was to try and win, and be dominant,” the winner in China last month said. “Today is good. It is a good start. We topped the sessions, so for now we have done all we can.
“But we have a day off, then Saturday, and I am sure Ferrari and Mercedes will start to put pressure on us. It is going to tighten up on Saturday. But all we can do today is try and top it and we did."
One area Red Bull did look to have an advantage was with the new Hypersoft tyre Pirelli is debuting this weekend.
In testing, Hamilton considered the pink-striped compound the best the Italian supplier has made and his view remains pretty positive.
“The Hypersoft felt good but it doesn’t last very long," he said. "It looks good for qualifying but could be interesting in the race.”
