Sebastian Vettel was surprised by Mercedes' advantage in qualifying but admits third on the grid was still the best Ferrari could have hoped for.
Mercedes comfortably locked out the front row in Shanghai, with Vettel stealing third from Felipe Massa after the chequered flag had fallen in Q3. Vettel has been consistent this weekend in saying Ferrari needs to keep an eye on Williams, who ended up splitting the German and Kimi Raikkonen.
Vettel, who finished nearly a full second down on pole-sitter Hamilton, seemed keen to play down the possibility of repeating his Malaysian Grand Prix success but was pleased with his efforts in qualifying.
"Well, first of all I'm happy with today," Vettel said. "It was a different strategy we had in Q3, going only once on a new set. Obviously these guys were a bit quicker than we expected, to be honest. But we got everything right and P3 was our maximum today. Tomorrow we should be a bit closer, how close we will find out. I'm looking forward to going race and going to race tomorrow. It's not very far to Turn 1, so I guess that's fairly straightforward, but it's a long race, tyres are very important here. Obviously we try to do well and get a lot of points.
"I would have loved to have been a bit closer but you have to be realistic. First of all, both of them did a great job, especially in Q3. I think we can be reasonably happy. Let's not forget where we came from and to be there and keep confirming we have the pace, and that it's not just luck, is obviously very good for us."
As the Ferrari seems to be easier on its tyres than Mercedes, even in the cooler confines of Shanghai, it has been suggested the team could do a longer first stint to try and beat the Silver Arrows. Vettel thinks strategy will have less of a bearing than in previous years.
"Well, it depends whether it helps. Obviously if you stay out longer that means you stay out on a used set of tyres and usually you don't go quicker than someone on a new set. In terms of strategy I think it's a bit more straightforward for everyone as this year China doesn't seem to stress the tyres as much as previous years.
"For the race they are the favourites, maybe we can be a bit closer on race pace in general. We managed to save a set of soft tyres so maybe that helps us tomorrow. First of all we need to make sure we stay in front of all the cars behind, but yes, we'd love to challenge them."