Mercedes is concerned that Ferrari's advantage in terms of engine performance may not be closeable.
The Scuderia powered back into contention in Bahrain but would falter in the race as Sebastian Vettel spun while battling Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc suffered a power unit problem, slipping to third.
But when running reliably, and particularly over a single lap, Mercedes believe Ferrari is now so far ahead that they may remain the benchmark throughout this hybrid era.
"The engine regulations are already very mature and the gains are in the thousandths between one improvement and the next," motorsport boss Toto Wolff explained.
"Ferrari have five tenths on us on the straights, so we will have to get used to that level."
Further bolstering the Italian team is the news that Leclerc's unit from Bahrain should be good to go in China as the problem was traced to a cylinder injector in the internal combustion engine.
Also Read:
- Mercedes always expected Leclerc to be a 'threat' with Ferrari
- Mercedes: Bahrain proves reliability as important as speed in title fight
- Hamilton: Bahrain vindicated pre-season fears over Ferrari potential
And with two circuits that feature two of the longest flat-out stretches on the calendar to come in Shanghai and Baku, Valtteri Bottas fears the worst.
"The next two races there are massively long straights, and I think [in Bahrain] they were making more than 0.4 seconds only in straight lines per lap," he explained.
"We can't find 0.4 seconds like this. We need to maybe find some of it in the corners and some of it in the straight line, but it's early on in the season and still a long way to go.
"For sure we are improving the car all the time and we need to review what we can do for the straight lines, but it's going to be tough. But like [Bahrain] showed, if we keep focusing on ourselves and our things, then anything is possible."
