Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull Racing can sustain the momentum it enjoyed at the end of last season and evolve thereafter to beat its rivals.
Last year, the Milton Keynes outfit endured its usual slow start to its campaign before ramping up its performance over the summer and ending the year on a strong note.
Engine reliability issues likely deprived the team from scoring more than the three wins it achieved, one of which was clinched by Ricciardo in Baku.
The Honey Badger is ready to go on the attack at the outset in Melbourne, and confident Red Bull can prevail this year over arch-rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.
"We improved the car a lot last year so I guess on principle we should just be able to carry that over for this year and keep evolving from there," said Ricciardo in Red Bull's season preview video.
"We should be able to fight more often. Time will tell, but I’m confident."
There's a good feeling in the air at Milton Keynes and among the troops, according to the 28-year-old.
"I feel there’s a good intensity, everyone’s not getting too excited. We know we’ve got some work to do if we really want to achieve what we want.
"So we all know that we’ve got some desires that we want to attack this year."
Catch up with what Daniel Ricciardo had to say before the season gets underway in the video below.
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are set to share the spotlight once again – but…
Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher — two titans of Formula 1 whose duels in the…
The checkered flag may have dropped on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull career, but the verbal…
On this day in 1978, Mario Andretti kicked off his banner championship winning year with…
Damon Hill knows a thing or two about what it takes to climb Formula 1’s…
Formula 1’s most polished powerbroker has seen this movie before – and Stefano Domenicali is…