Ferrari had gone into the Barcelona weekend under increased pressure from president Sergio Marchionne to deliver its first victory of the campaign.

But although the collision between Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took out its strongest rival, a poor qualifying session meant Ferrari was beaten to the win by Red Bull.

However, having worked on what went wrong with its single lap pace during this week's Barcelona test, Vettel is upbeat about what his team can expect.

"I think it should be a strong track for us," he explained. "We were very competitive last year, and I think we improved in those areas that you need for Monaco.

"The car is better in terms of ride, in terms of kerbing, in general – so it should help for Monaco."

Red Bull no worry

Although Red Bull's form is improving – and it has high hopes about an engine upgrade that could arrive as early at Monaco – Vettel is not worried about what the opposition is up to.

"We look after ourselves," he said. "We were as competitive as we expected [in Spain], with the exception of Saturday.

"Sunday we were in the ballpark but we just struggled to get past. Once we got past, which was not many times in the race, we showed we were quicker."