Red Bull are confident ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, hoping to finally break their Grand Prix curse and continue their relentless march to world championship domination as their rivals struggle to keep up with their pace.
Red Bull have not won at Albert Park since former driver Sebastian Vettel claimed the 2011 race, but there may be no stopping the constructor's champions this year at the lakeside circuit.
With Max Verstappen leading a Red Bull 1-2 in Bahrain and teammate Sergio Perez flipping the order in Jeddah, Red Bull have been in a class of their own this season, with the RB19 car dazzling with its speed and showing ample reliability.
"It's always nice to ... experience Melbourne a little, although from a racing point of view, it has not been too kind to us over the years," said double defending champion Verstappen, who was forced to retire last year's race due to a fuel problem.
"The track is excellent with some high-speed corners, and one I enjoy driving, so hopefully, we can have a good race this weekend."
"We just need it to be straightforward and consistent."
Verstappen leads the championship by a point from Perez, who won in Saudi Arabia by holding off the Dutchman as he roared back to second from 15th on the grid.
Formula One will hope Perez can keep the pressure on Verstappen, with the other teams seemingly well behind the development curve.
This year, an unprecedented fourth DRS Zone at Albert Park – between turns eight and nine on the 14-corner layout – could play further into Red Bull's hands.
Racing hard
Once-dominant Mercedes, whose drivers George Russell and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at Jeddah, are "storming full steam ahead" to bridge the gap after realizing they got their car concept wrong.
"The signs we are seeing back at the factory are promising," said team boss Toto Wolff.
"We are not where we want to be – but that won't stop us from racing hard and giving it everything we've got."
They may need improvement quickly if they hope to retain Hamilton, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
Speculation about the 38-year-old Briton's next move is already rife, with Ferrari seen as the likely destination.
However, Ferrari have problems, with drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc lamenting a lack of pace after finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in Jeddah.
Neither they nor Mercedes have a podium this season, upstaged by the much-improved Aston Martin and their 41-year-old twice world championship-winning driver Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin have brushed off jibes from Red Bull that the AM23 is a copy of its car, despite sporting a Mercedes engine and gearbox.
That has hardly fazed them.
"We have a different concept to those two cars (Red Bull and Mercedes) although it's true that visually all the cars look a little bit similar," Alonso told Spanish media.
Home fans will cheer a new Australian driver over the weekend, with the much-hyped rookie Oscar Piastri replacing Daniel Ricciardo in McLaren's papaya colors.
Ricciardo, now reserve driver at Red Bull, never managed a podium at Albert Park. Melbourne-born Piastri's first home race is unlikely to be triumphant, with struggling McLaren yet to score a point.