Daniel Ricciardo has called for a back-to-basics approach for Red Bull to forge a return to the front of the grid.
Second best to Mercedes last season after a run of four successive championship triumphs, Red Bull have struggled at the start of this year.
To rub salt into the wounds, Red Bull even found themselves trailing 'sister' team Toro Rosso at the last race in Malaysia.
The main gripe has centred on power-unit supplier Renault, with billionaire benefactor Dietrich Mateschitz suggesting this week he could pull his team out of the sport if matters fail to improve.
Ahead of this weekend's grand prix in China, Ricciardo concedes Red Bull are exploring numerous avenues to correct the problems.
The Australian managed to finish third quickest in practice, a second behind reigning champion Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes and four tenths of a second adrift of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
"We are experimenting with a few things, but I think for now we have to go back to what we know, get our basics right," said Ricciardo.
"We have done quite a bit. In Malaysia we had brake issues, a lot of overheating, so we have reverted back on a few things, even from last year which we knew was more efficient.
"Just because it's from last year it doesn't mean it's not better, so I guess we have taken a step back in that direction.
"The team has done quite a lot to rectify some issues and get us further up the grid."
Ricciardo has no doubt Renault are also pulling their weight, adding: "From Melbourne to Malaysia they made a pretty massive step with driveability.
"We also have a few more software things this weekend, which should give things another pretty significant step on that side.
"I appreciate what everyone is doing to get us back towards the front, so fingers crossed it can be put together in the right way this weekend and if so we can get back into that top five."
Team-mate Daniil Kvyat, however, was not so fortunate as the young Russian was forced to pull off track 19 minutes from the end of FP2 after his brakes caught fire.
Speaking to Press Association Sport, team principal Christian Horner explained: "Something overheated within the rear hub assembly.
"As a result of that we lost pressure in the master cylinder halfway round the lap.
"We asked him to drive back slowly without using the brakes if at all possible, but unfortunately he had to brake at turn 14 and he had a very slow off.
"It's frustrating it's happened, but all the relevant pieces are intact so we can find out what the root cause was."
Despite suffering brake issues in Malaysia, Horner insists the issue there and the one experienced by Kvyat are "totally unrelated".
Horner added: "Today was a one-off and can be sorted for tomorrow."
Source: PA-WIRE
