Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckons the battle with Ferrari and Red Bull will continue to "intensify" as Formula One enters the European part of the season.
After the first four flyaway races of 2018, Lewis Hamilton sits four points clear of Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' championship. While Mercedes is in a strong position in both championships, Ferrari has held the upper hand in terms of performance, in particular in qualifying trim.
"The first four races indicate very strongly that we will see the three-way battle continue and -- if anything -- intensify," Wolff said. "We're hoping that this year's Spanish Grand Prix will be a good race for us, but we know that it will be tough."
Historically, the Spanish Grand Prix is the point in the season where teams introduce their first major upgrade packages to their cars. This fact leaves Wolff intrigued to see whether the pecking order remains the same or whether a particular team finds significant performance gains.
"The European season is also the time when teams start introducing bigger upgrades to their cars. It's the first step of the development race that looks like it could run to the very end of the season. It will be interesting to see how much performance the teams can find with their upgrades and what impact those upgrades will have on the team ranking -- both at the front and in the midfield."
Unlike in 2017, Mercedes has struggled for one-lap performance comparatively to Ferrari -- scoring just one pole position in the opening four rounds -- with Ferrari claiming the other three. Wolff has stressed the importance of improving Mercedes' qualifying fortunes due to the difficulties in overtaking at the Circuit de Catalunya.
"Overtaking is difficult in Barcelona and even more so in Monte Carlo, making track position key for a good race result. So, every team will work hard to get every last bit of performance out of the car in qualifying."