Alex Albon is hoping he can be involved in the Formula 1 championship battle during 2020.
The London-born Thai driver enters this season under more pressure to produce results having impressed during his nine-race audition at Red Bull in the second half of last year.
That's because, while he finished in the top six at every race except Brazil, after being hit by Lewis Hamilton, Albon didn't always have the pace to challenge the Mercedes' and Ferrari's ahead of him.
Looking ahead to this year, however, he does feel he can get himself upto the necessary level to fight for wins if not more.
"I want to be there, of course, I want to be fighting there," he told Sky Sports F1 on Wednesday.
"I know I need to work on myself, I don't think I'm there yet but I'm still working on it. I feel like there are areas I need to improve on."
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The main difference in his favour, Albon believes, is the knowledge he gained during his rookie year and the guidance he can gain from his teammate.
"It does feel like coming into this year, there is that sense of I know what to expect," he added. "I've been to all the tracks; I've experienced all the kind of dramas that I can face.
"For me right now I see Max as someone who I can look at and improve with in terms of looking at data and see where he's quick because of course, it's no secret that he is very fast.
"And then at the same time I'm focused on myself and will try to close the gap, and eventually try and overtake him, that would be nice."
Albon also offered an optimistic view on his first impressions of the new RB16, which will hit the track next week for a shakedown at Silverstone.
"Coming from last year already into this year, I've done quite a lot of simulator sessions already" he revealed.
"Even before [pre-season testing in] Barcelona, I kind of know the direction that we're heading towards. It does feel a lot better.
"You have that buzz and the team has the buzz of hopefully something great. We'll see once we hit the track in Barcelona if it's working well.
"Of course, we have to realize that Mercedes are still the champions. We're going to improve but so are Mercedes and Ferrari. We'll see how much and who has improved the most."
