Lewis Hamilton declared 'I'm back to a bit more normal' after qualifying in seventh spot for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion was very happy with his W15 car and has given Mercedes hope after a difficult start to the season.
Hamilton finished seventh and ninth in the first two races of 2024 before engine failure saw him retire last time out in Australia.
His team-mate George Russell also crashed out in Melbourne to compound what had been a miserable start to the campaign for the Silver Arrows.
Lewis Hamilton was pleased with Mercedes' performance in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix
Sky Sports
Russell could only qualify in ninth in Suzuka on Saturday, his worst starting spot of the year so far.
Hamilton was only two places above but was happy with how the car drove.
The 39-year-old says he now knows 'exactly' where the car can improve and will be advising his team ahead of the race.
Hamilton told Sky Sports: "I was giving it everything. The team did a really great job this past week making adjustments to our set-up.
"This is actually the first weekend I've not gone crazy with set-up and I'm not testing a bunch of things, so I'm back to a bit more normal.
"I think we've got the car into a much nicer working window and so it's been really enjoyable driving, it's just the guys are just a little bit faster.
"We were a second or just over a second off last year to the Red Bull and seven-tenths is better.
"Maybe if we had done something a little bit different maybe we could have been another tenth faster, maybe, but other than that that was everything.
"I think what it's giving us is I know exactly where the car is not strong enough, I can feel it in the car, and I know now to tell them to 'push in this particular area'.
"But I'm hoping the race will be stronger tomorrow. I've really enjoyed driving so far this weekend though."
Asked if Mercedes now have a direction to go with the W15, Hamilton responded: "I personally believe so, yeah.
"What we have noticed is track to track it has been really, really hard to get the set-up right and it has been so far out each time.
"In some places it has felt like nothing we can do gets the car in a sweet spot.
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Lewis Hamilton qualified in seventh for the Japanese Grand Prix
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"But this weekend it's much more in the sweet spot and so I hope that continues in the following races, then we've just got to add performance."
Russell finished below Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in eighth and ahead of home favourite Yuki Tsunoda in 10th.
He admits there are fine margins between Mercedes and their direct rivals.
Russell said: "It's just so tight out there between ourselves, McLaren, Aston Martin and Ferrari. If you nail that lap, you will be at the front of that pack, if you don't, you will be at the back.
"We knew this circuit would be a slight challenge for us. We know our limitation would be the high-speed corners.
George Russell endured his worst qualifying session of the season so far
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"When you get to qualifying, you go through all the corners quicker. That fast Sector One, you go through there five to 15mph quicker than yesterday and that pushes us to the weak point of the car, so I expect it to be better tomorrow.
"I think there's a lot that can happen and everyone has different tyres available.
"There will be many different strategies and a lot of opportunities. I think it will be a good race. It's so tight out there between everyone.
"If you do a good job and nail it, you will jump three, four, five positions and compared to last year that would be one position."
