Lewis Hamilton has said it will be a "tall order" for Ferrari to pull off a second grand prix win in a row and beat Mercedes to victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton qualified third on the grid, 0.295 seconds off the pole position time set by his former Mercedes teammate George Russell, and 0.059 seconds off his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in second.
The seven-time champion started from second on the grid at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix two weeks ago and went on to secure victory with a three-stop strategy, but suggested a repeat would be tough in Austria.
"I think out of pure pace, no," Hamilton said when asked by Sky Sports if a win was realistic. "The Mercedes have been very quick this weekend, yesterday [in practice] it was 0.6 seconds [between Mercedes and Ferrari on race pace].
"So I think on pure pace it will be very, very hard to do. But maybe with strategy, maybe there's an opportunity.
"But a tall order to win tomorrow. We've got to maximise points for the team and obviously try to keep one of the Mercedes behind if we can and if we can get both of them that would be mega."
Leclerc said Ferrari's pace in qualifying came as a surprise, but doubts it will be enough to take the challenge to Russell on Sunday.
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"It's very strange because yesterday was a very tough day for the team," he said. "I think we were struggling a lot as a team and today we did a big step forward.
"I did not expect, and I think as a team we did not expect, to be in front of the McLarens particularly and close to the Mercedes. So that's a good surprise. Then for the race itself, I think we need a step forward with the car for tomorrow.
"Whether this will be enough to challenge the Mercedes, I doubt so. But if there's an opportunity, I will do everything to take it."
