Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has conceded Max Verstappen was on a "different galaxy" in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Dutchman made the best possible start to his F1 Drivers' title defence by taking a 22.4-second victory over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, having secured pole position by almost a quarter of a second in qualifying.
Mercedes could finish only fifth and seventh courtesy of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton after both encountered issues during the season opener and speaking to media including RacingNews365, Wolff said: "I think Max was not in a different league but in a different galaxy.
"The performance was extraordinary.
"But everybody else, we saw the differences between the Ferraris and I believe that the group of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were probably in a similar ballpark.
"We just need to look at ourselves, get on top of our problems and if we are able to manage our race weekend better, we will be racing those guys."
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Red Bull was only denied a perfect season by Carlos Sainz's Singapore Grand Prix victory last season, such was the dominance of the RB19.
With the team securing a one-two finish on Saturday, Wolff was asked if a clean sweep for the Milton Keynes-based outfit was possible, given Verstappen's talent.
"Unfortunately yes," replied Wolff.
"You need to acknowledge his performance levels, they are very strong."
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