Lewis Hamilton claims it is "no secret" the new Formula One regulations have been introduced to slow Mercedes, but he was encouraged by their opening qualifying session of the season.
Changes to aerodynamic regulations for 2021 have had a great impact on the reigning champions' low-rake chassis, the Silver Arrows say.
Mercedes have won the past seven constructors' championships, yet Red Bull led the way in pre-season testing.
The fastest lap belonged to Max Verstappen and the same man took pole on Saturday at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
But Hamilton was only 0.388 seconds back in second and that performance spells good news for the Briton, with all 16 Bahrain winners coming from the first two rows of the grid but only seven of them qualifying on pole.
Meanwhile, Verstappen has retired three times at this event and four times at the Sakhir track.
Hamilton remains very much in contention, despite feeling the rules have been designed to hurt his team.
"It's no secret. The changes, of course they've been done to peg us back," he said. "We've had the changes last year to our engine to do the same thing.
"That's okay. We love a challenge, we don't look down on these things. We just work hard to do the best that we can, and that's what we'll do."
But Hamilton was not amused by a request for him to analyse where Red Bull are now better, as Verstappen - having ended last year with a win - targets back-to-back triumphs for the first time in his career.
"Really? I don't want to tell you what our problem is," Hamilton said. "They're just faster."
With Silver Arrows team-mate Valtteri Bottas qualifying third, the top three - Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas - are on course to become the first trio to appear on 15 podiums together.
Although Verstappen is still in the lead, this Mercedes challenge seemed improbable for Hamilton just days ago.
"I think this is a really good step forward for us coming this weekend," he said.
"We thought it was double the gap that you see today. That's down to some really fantastic work from the men and women back at the factory.
"Of course we want to be first, but we knew that it was going to be a challenge, we knew from day one on track really that Red Bull was going to be faster than us.
"We knew we had a bit of an uphill slope to climb. I'm just proud of everyone's efforts."
Elsewhere, two former champions had vastly contrasting fortunes after offseason moves.
Three-time Bahrain winner Fernando Alonso is back in F1 with Alpine Team, formerly Renault, where he won two world titles.
And his second debut was a success as he reached Q3 for the first time since Monaco 2018 and claimed ninth on the grid.
"It was good," said Alonso, who won this event on the previous two occasions it opened a season. "I think we have to be pleased with the qualifying.
"I was not confident in any of the sessions so far in the weekend - I was struggling a little bit to feel the rear of the car in windy conditions - and now in the qualifying everything was calmer.
"The night situation I think helped us with the cooler temperatures, so I was able to attack and feel the car a little bit better and it was fun."
On the other hand, Sebastian Vettel was eliminated in Q1 as his second run was hampered by yellow flags prompted by Haas rookie Nikita Mazepin's spin.
No driver has more wins (four) or poles (three) in Bahrain than the former Ferrari man, but his Aston Martin bow did not go to plan.
Vettel will start from 18th and said: "If I panicked now, would it help? If I was really upset?
"For sure, I am upset and angry that it wasn't our fault in a way not to make it through, but we have to take it and do what we can, preparing tomorrow."
Matters could yet get worse for the German, who will appear before the stewards on Sunday for failing to respect the flags, potentially meaning a five-place penalty.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
Norris 'surprised' by pole and expects tough Monza test
Lando Norris admitted his pole position at the Italian Grand Prix was "a surprise" after McLaren secured a second qualifying one-two of the season at Monza.
Norris, who is aiming to become the first McLaren driver since Lewis Hamilton in 2010 to win consecutive races, looks good to close the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen, who finished in seventh.
The Briton was just 0.109 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Mercedes' George Russell 0.113s off the pace in third after an incredibly tight Saturday session.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth for Ferrari at the team's home event, with Hamilton in sixth.
Sergio Perez enjoyed a better qualifying session this time around and will start the race in eighth, while Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Norris pipped Piastri by just 0.035s on his first lap in the top-10 shootout, before improving his time on his second attempt despite not being happy with his lap.
"To have a first and second when the field is as tight as it has been all weekend is a little bit of a surprise, but a nice one," Norris said.
"My lap, it hurts me to say it, was not a great lap. My first one was. But still good enough for pole and still very happy.
"There are a lot of quick drivers behind in quick cars, so I am not expecting an easy race. Plenty of question marks but a lot of excitement, I'm sure."
Verstappen, however, struggled with balance in the final qualifying session, having been expected to battle the two McLarens after a strong showing in Q2.
The three-time champion described the car as "shocking" at one point, and will have to come from midfield to claim a first win since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Should the Dutchman fail to win at Monza, it will be the first time since the 2020 season he has gone six races without a victory. He had a run of 11 winless races in a row that year from Spain to Sakhir.
"Q3 was very bad on both of my tyre sets. I just picked up a lot of understeer so I couldn't attack any corners any more," Verstappen said.
"I had to back it out a lot mid-corner and you lose a lot of lap time like that.
"Somehow in Q2 it wasn’t that bad. I did a 1:19.6 at that point and we were almost the quickest. We know our limitations and problems but at that point I think we had it fairly under control.
"But I went into Q3 and the balance was completely out, and I don't really understand how that happened."
Qualifying results
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
7. Max Versappen (Red Bull)
8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
9. Alex Albon (Williams)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
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