Sebastian Vettel retains an unshakeable belief that he can be crowned Formula One world champion this season.
The German, who won four in a row from 2010 to 2013 with Red Bull, has gone five seasons without a title.
And his latest campaign has not got off to the best of starts, with Mercedes dominant again and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton 31 points ahead of Vettel.
However, the Ferrari star remains supremely confident that 2019 will be his year.
"I have the absolute belief that I can be world champion," he said ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in quotes reported by Sky Sports.
Ferrari had been tipped to sweep the drivers' and constructors' championships after impressing in pre-season testing, but Mercedes have secured the top two steps on the podium in each of the opening three races.
That has led to suggestions Ferrari must begin to claw back the deficit in Baku, but Vettel pointed out it was still early days.
"I know some people like to put it that this is the decider, but we have a lot of races left," he said.
"Hopefully, at one point we can look back and say this was the decider or the decisive moment but right now I don't know and I don't really care.
"We want to win, but that's for any race we go to. I think we have a very strong package and I'm confident if we can get it in the right place then we should be able to show that and give the others a very, very hard time.
"I'm not thinking that it all depends on one single moment."
Vettel took pole last year in Baku but finished down in fourth as Hamilton claimed victory.
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