Daniel Ricciardo isn't getting his hopes up over Red Bull's pace in FP2 after achieving the third fastest time in the evening session.
His RB13's performance in low-fuel conditions looked promising but the Honey Badger isn't getting carried away.
"It's alright," Ricciardo said.
"It is not quali but if it was quali I'd take that for now. Actually, I'd be pissed because we are pretty close to pole essentially. It was a good day. I am not reading too much into the low fuel stuff.
"At the moment it looks good but it does not make a whole lot of sense compared to a week ago. So we will be reserved with that.
"But generally a good day, we did everything we had to, a lot of laps, it is nice to drive in the heat. Last week I was cold, so I enjoy this a lot."
As the Milton-Keynes outfit struggles to catch up with Mercedes and Ferrari, Ricciardo will be looking for damage limitation on Sunday rather than an outright upset.
"The long runs looked like they had a bit more pace so that was probably a bit more representative. We couldn’t really ask for more.
"I think we did what we had to do today so I’m happy. Let’s make tomorrow a good one also."
GALLERY: All the pictures from Friday in Bahrain
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Lando Norris had just done the hardest thing in motorsport – winning the Formula 1…
A veteran of 41 Grands Prix starts, Howden Ganley - seen here above hitting a…
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc may not have ended the season with a silver trophy in hand,…
Max Verstappen’s timing out on the race track is surgical, but when it comes to…
Oliver Bearman knows exactly what awaits a rookie stepping into Formula 1 – and he’s…
After a quietly strong 2025 campaign, George Russell is playing the long game – waiting,…