Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull has closed the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari following the introduction of performance updates for the RB13.
The Australian tested Red Bull's new aero package for the first time in Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona circuit.
Ricciardo ended practice in sixth albeit 0.7s adrift of the pace-setting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, while just three tenths shy of Ferrari.
This weekend has seen the top three teams Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull unleash upgrades to its cars.
Red Bull has lagged behind its rivals this season with its main concern being a lack of downforce created by the RB13.
While admitting the update is an improvement, Ricciardo says the squad still has pretty of work to do to challenge Mercedes.
“We have made some progress but we knew it wasn't going to put us up with Mercedes or anything,” said Ricciardo.
“I feel we can still perfect what we have got, get a few more tenths out of it.
“Obviously we want more, but we are in line with what we predicted.”
The four-time grand prix winner says pace has improved on the soft compound tyre, while further tweaks could see the team take the fight to Ferrari.
“The medium (tyre) at the start of Practice 2 was a struggle but we found a good chunk on the soft,” he added.
“We are getting there. We are feeling a bit of progress so we need to keep fine-tuning it.
“Looking at Ferrari, we are not too far off them, but I think we are still going to need to make improvements if we are going to make a real impression on them in qualifying.”
Red Bull proved victorious this time last year when Max Verstappen claimed his maiden win at the Spanish Grand Prix.