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Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari said that Mercedes' continued success in Formula 1 was "boring".
The world champions took a double in the first four races of 2019, having won the last five titles of drivers and builders.
"Boring, is not it?" Said Vettel. "So boring, it's not just four races, it's been four years, more or less."
The 31-year-old German thinks Ferrari has the potential to challenge Mercedes this year.
"[We have to] work harder, work better. We are doing everything we can, "said Vettel, who has won four consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013.
"But you have to respect the fact that they are doing extremely well and that their cars are mostly in the right place.
"But I'm confident, I believe in this team and I know we can improve, I think we have a good car, we have not yet managed to put it in its place, so it's difficult to have confidence. " and the sensation, but I'm sure it'll turn around.
Vettel said the Ferrari knew they had a fast car but were struggling to make the most of it.
"It's like a Rubik's cube," he says. "We just need to solve it.We have a lot of people who can create the Rubik's Cube in a few minutes.We have very smart people, but we are working on a Rubik's cube's big size. "
Team boss Mattia Binotto added: "Obviously, four races in the season, no win for Ferrari, four wins for Mercedes, they are undoubtedly very solid.
"Certainly they [Mercedes] have a slightly better car, but I think the gap is not so big and the points do not reflect the true potential of cars. "
Binotto highlighted the pace of Charles Leclerc, the other Ferrari driver, who dominated Azerbaijan this weekend before falling in the second qualifying session on Saturday as evidence of the team's potential.
"With Charles, we [had] the potential pole, and if you have a car fast enough to potentially score the pole, you have a good car overall, "he said.
"In the race, yes, we were not as fast as them, but we did not finish with 20 seconds of delay."
Leclerc also lost on a potential victory after dominating Bahrain in the second race of the season, after having an engine problem that took him from the lead to third place in the final laps.
The 21-year-old, who finished fifth in Baku on Sunday after taking eighth place on the grid, said: "The performance was there to make pole position but that's my mistake.
"I have to work on these things, I'm only on my second F1 season, it's not [a case of looking] to find excuses, I should not make these mistakes but I take them as a part of my path and learn from them.
"For the moment, we have not had four perfect weekends, and I think we are not that good yet. [away], by qualifying above all. In the race, they seem to have more for the moment, but we will work and come back stronger. "
Mercedes Valtteri Bottas lead the championship with a point over teammate Lewis Hamilton. Vettel is 35 points behind. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) is one point behind Vettel and Leclerc at four points.
Hamilton rejected suggestions that Bottas was already the only rival to block his sixth world title.
"No, it's too early to say that a person is the title rival," Hamilton said. "Ferrari had the pace in qualifying, so if both drivers had delivered the same thing as us, it would have been much closer.
"We stayed on our guard, we did not upgrade and Ferrari did, so it's a bit of a surprise."
"We will go [to the next race in Spain] and Ferrari seemed quick in testing and I'm sure that they will bring additional upgrades.
"These first four [races] We have been stellar for us and we must remain vigilant because we never know when another team will take a step forward. We must continue to do what we have and not let this situation waver. "
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