Daniel Ricciardo admits Red Bull's Chinese Grand Prix qualifying pace is a realistic reflection of where the team currently stands in the 2017 Formula One pecking order.
The Australian qualified best of the rest behind both Mercedes and Ferrari drivers to secure fifth place on the grid in Shanghai, albeit over 1.3 seconds down on Lewis Hamilton's pole time and 0.9s adrift of Kimi Raikkonen in fourth.
"I'd say it's probably at the moment [it's] realistic," Ricciardo said of his pace. "I felt like the balance was not too bad. I think this morning we weren't too happy with it but I think we improved it for qualifying and the car didn't feel too bad.