Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes will fare better in race trim in Sunday's British Grand Prix than in qualifying, but the Briton is expecting a tough afternoon with McLaren joining the battle just behind Red Bull.
George Russell and Hamilton qualified respectively P6 and P7, almost half a second adrift from poleman Max Verstappen.
Hamilton reckoned that Mercedes single-lap pace still isn't what it should be which left the team trailing both McLaren's and both Ferraris in Q3.
"We weren't quite quick enough today unfortunately," said the seven-time world champion.
"The conditions were tricky out there but there was still an element of fun to it, as we tried to get on top of the tyres.
"There were some moments where it looked like we had the potential to challenge further forward, but then we fell back a little.
"We seem to struggle on the single lap more than we do on the race pace, so we will see what we can do tomorrow. If we can progress forward, then that would be amazing.
"Hopefully we can put some pressure on the cars ahead and get into a battle with them.
"But realistically, I'm not sure. We will find out. It was difficult to get past two Ferraris and then we've got two McLarens out there. It's going to be a tough race."
Hamilton was actually happy to see McLaren, his former team, take its performance to the next level in qualifying, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri clocking in second and third.
But the Mercedes charger admitted to not being surprised by the Woking-based outfit's MCL60 take a step forward on the back of a succession of upgrades.
"Not surprised. I mean, if you look at the car, it makes sense. I'm really happy for them," he said. "They've had such a bad run for so long, so to be back up there is really, really great to see."
Queried on why he felt that McLaren's step up in performance seemed like a logical event, Hamilton pointed to the similarities between team papaya's car and Red Bull's dominant machine, especially in the sidepod area.
"If you just put it alongside a Red Bull, it looks very, very similar down the sides. It's working. It is great," he said.
"We now have another team up in the mix, which is what we want to see in this sport."
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