The start of Daniil Kvyat's 2016 campaign began with a DNF in Australia and a P7 finish in Bahrain.
While on paper the latter result was nothing to write home about, the Red Bull driver believes his run on Sunday, from a low P15 on the grid, provided a much needed boost of confidence, and one which he hopes to carry over into China this weekend.
"The race in Bahrain was really crucial," Kvyat said. "When you get into Formula 1, you are obviously a fast driver but you always want to see the confirmation in the chronometer.
"I didn't have it in Barcelona and in Australia, but it was good to have it on Sunday in Bahrain. Everything looked nice and comfortable and we really had an opportunity to finish on a high had we optimized our strategy.
"It was a good run, very pleasant to see, and now we need to have this kind of weekend all the time starting from Saturday also."
Since the first two races of the season, Red Bull has emerged as the third fastest team behind Mercedes and Ferrari, a hierarchy Kvyat believes will be respected in Shanghai.
"I think it's been generally quite consistent so far and the car feels comfortable in terms of how we are generating the pace.
"In Bahrain I felt that we are able to fight for a good place this year. I don't which race it's going to be but we will be able to soon fight with the cars ahead, and with our development rate, things are looking promising for the season.
"It's giving us hope for the future, but we need to be working hard and keep our heads down."
Kvyat also believes that troubles encountered early on in the year, when the team was not expecting to be so competitive, may now be out of the way as he faces a more clear path to a better outlook.
"In my career so far I've had a bit of a tendency to start on the low side and end the year on a high, which I prefer than the other way around.
"At some point, I'd like to be on a high all the time but if it has to be this way I prefer we have our troubles now. We need a little extra focus to make it happen on all three days. Later in the season, there is probably more to come."
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