Ahead of his home grand prix in Russia this weekend, Kvyat thinks that improvements to both the chassis and engine over the winter have lifted Red Bull further than expected, and left it bullish about what it can now deliver.

And although Red Bull openly admits it is still facing a power deficit until it can get its hands on a Renault engine upgrade from the Canadian Grand Prix, there remain good chances in the meantime at tracks where horsepower is not so critical.

Speaking to Motorsport.com about whether he believed Red Bull could already fight with Mercedes at tracks like Monaco, Kvyat said: "I don't want to predict it, but it looks like our chassis is quite strong and good.

"And who knows? I mean everything is possible. Last year even with a bit of trouble we looked very competitive in Monaco, but this year probably we have a chance to be even more competitive.

"We don't know where it's going to bring, us but there are some good opportunities to come."

Tidier package

Kvyat believes there has been no dramatic revolution in terms of the Red Bull chassis or rebadged Renault engine, but thinks that just general improvements across the board have made the difference.

"There is no big area or something that improved - I think its all just tidier," he said. "The engine now is more reliable so it lets us run more.

"There has been a step in power, but obviously we are looking for another kind of step like this to be really close to the frontrunners, to Ferrari and Mercedes.

"The chassis is just tidier. It's just we learned how to use it last year very well and this year we're just trying our best to maximize our results everywhere. It's not bad.

Canada boost

Red Bull's front row at the Chinese Grand Prix has shown the potential of its 2016 package, and Kvyat says that there is excitement about what can come from the Canada update.

"Obviously in the situation [we had], we were not too surprised [with the step Renault made]. It was a minimum we were hoping for," he explained.

"We got it and now we are looking for another one hopefully. Which should come I don't know when exactly, but it should be soon, around the Canada race.

"And it should offer us probably even more opportunities if there is a similar step to what we made over the winter. And with another similar step it should be quite promising, yes."