Ferrari technical director James Allison believes Mercedes are again likely to lead the way in China this weekend.
Fears of another season of domination from Mercedes were blown away by a shock, yet deserved victory for Sebastian Vettel last time out in Malaysia.
It was the Maranello marque’s first success for almost two years and at least offered hope to neutrals that reigning champion Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg will not have it all their own way.
In searing heat and high track temperatures the Ferraris of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were far kinder on their tyres, stopping only twice compared to the three trips to the pits for Hamilton and Rosberg.
This weekend’s race at the Shanghai International Circuit, however, should favour Mercedes given the cooler climes than that of Sepang.
Allison is certainly not expecting back-to-back Ferrari wins and said: “Our car has a pretty decent cooling package.
“That allowed us to operate in the fierce temperatures like we experienced in Malaysia without having to open up the car.
“The track was also rough and hot, which is hard for tyres, and we’re fortunate the car goes well on its tyres.
“Quite what problems were going on in Merc-land I don’t know. But I’m fairly sure we will have our work cut out in China to do as impressive a job as we did in Malaysia.”
As to whether Ferrari can stay the course with Mercedes and provide a season-long challenge, for now that is difficult to determine.
“I don’t know about that. I’ll tell you at the end of the season,” remarked Allison with a smile.
“In Melbourne (the season-opening Australian Grand Prix) Mercedes were very, very dominant, and we were better than we looked on that occasion.
“Even in free air we wouldn’t have held a candle to them there.
“There is a lot of work for us to do before we can head into every race weekend confident we can hunt for the victory from the first session of that weekend.
“But we do have a fairly exciting development plan, and we’ve a lot of performance to bring. It should at least be an interesting season to see if we can close that gap so we are genuine contenders at any weekend.”
Crucially, and what may yet be a determining factor, Allison added: “Normally over the course of a season being kind to your tyres is the best thing you can be.”