Despite winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari is still unsure whether it is ahead of Mercedes in terms of outright pace.
Sebastian Vettel vindicated pre-season excitement about Ferrari by winning a close race determined by a questionable strategy call for Mercedes when it decided to bring in Lewis Hamilton on the 18th lap, earlier than expected. Ferrari capitalised by extending Vettel's opening stint and building a gap in clear air, emerging ahead of Hamilton and controlling the race from that point on.
Though Vettel was unchallenged after making his pit-stop, engineering chief Jock Clear, who joined from Mercedes ahead of the 2016 season, believes the way the race unfolded prevented a proper assessment to be made.
"If they'd got into a close battle at some stage we would have seen who was quicker," Clear told Sky Sports F1. "But, honestly, I can't tell you which was the quicker car today, because I don't think either of them saw the opportunity to really pile on the pressure.
"Early on, Lewis was managing the pace because that was the right thing to do. And once Seb was ahead he was managing the pace. We really still don't know the answer to how quick we are in absolute terms. We know that today we won."
Clear says Ferrari's strategy was made easier by the Mercedes call to pit Hamilton on lap 18, which led to the three-time world champion getting stuck behind Max Verstappen's Red Bull when lap times were crucial.
"We were always thinking that we probably had reasonable pace the undercut was possible. We were trying to get right up behind Hamilton for the undercut - and he went early.
"From that point you think 'okay we go as long as we can and maybe we attack them at the end', but then he got caught up in traffic and the undercut offered itself effectively. Honestly it was sort of fell into our hands when he got stuck behind Verstappen. You prepare for these things, the strategy beforehand understands that that may happen."
"Obviously Seb was pushing as soon as Lewis came in, because if he has a warm-up problem or anything you overcut. Obviously getting stuck behind Verstappen played into our hands."