Sebastian Vettel feels he has taken "one step" towards respectability this season after qualifying on pole for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
After a record-breaking 15 poles last season, up until today the reigning world champion had failed to get anywhere near the front row this season.
Just a week ago in China, the 24-year-old was a miserable 11th in his Red Bull, his worst performance for 42 races since the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
In the space of a week, though, Vettel has managed to put such disappointment behind him by grabbing the 31st pole of his F1 career.
A combination of switching to a new exhaust system, the track more suited to the Red Bull and the 31-degree heat all played a part in Vettel turning things around.
"I'm obviously pretty happy," said Vettel, who finished 0.098secs ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, with their team-mates in Mark Webber and Jenson Button third and fourth.
"We've always had the ability to go reasonably quick, although it depends a little on when and where you are, which tyres etcetera.
"But I've felt much happier with the car all weekend. I knew in qualifying we should be able to put it higher up the grid this time.
"I'm extremely happy for the team because the guys have done an incredible job lately.
"The last two weekends in particular, here and China, I don't know how they do it.
"They hardly get any sleep, probably an hour, two or three on average every night, yet still they're full of energy and willing to work even harder.
"So we owe the result to those guys in the garage."
Vettel, though, does not feel one pole means Red Bull have turned the corner completely, adding: "We've not had the start we expected, or that people expected of us.
"But since day one, when we realised we weren't as strong as we wanted to be, we've worked very hard.
"This is one step in the right direction, so we will keep fighting and keep working hard to make sure the results similar to this come more often."
For the fourth consecutive race Hamilton qualified on the front row - albeit he was demoted five places last weekend following a gearbox change.
After a string of thirds in the races to start the season and lead the championship, there is the obvious desire to improve on that.
"It's not been my target to finish third every race, it's just the hand we've been dealt," said Hamilton.
"I can't complain, but at some stage - perhaps tomorrow - we are in a much better position to really show the true strength of the car and of the team and try to get a one-two. That's the target."
Debut race winner in China Nico Rosberg starts fifth, with team-mate Michael Schumacher 17th after a DRS failure in Q1, whilst Force India's Paul di Resta lines up 10th.
