Sebastian Vettel does not foresee anyone challenging Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, but the new Ferrari driver was happy with the start he made in Friday's practice sessions.
Nico Rosberg led the way ahead of world champion and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in both FP1 and FP2 as the Formula One season got underway in Melbourne.
Behind the Mercedes duo there was expected to be a tight tussle between Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams.
And having posted the third fastest time in FP2, four-time world champion Vettel is hopeful of winning that battle this weekend.
"It would be nice to stay in front of as many people as we can," he said.
"I'm sure that Mercedes are out of reach, you have to be realistic, but the most important thing is we ran and didn't have any problems.
"It was very smooth and I don't remember the last smooth Friday I had like this, so from that point of view it's very good.
"It was a good day. We didn't have any issues with the car or problems with reliability. It seems that the hard work we did over the tests was positive.
"In terms of performance, the higher up you are the better it is, but it's Friday and I've been in Formula One for quite a while and Friday is not that important for looking at lap times."