Porsche has led every session so far in the lead-up to this Saturday’s Qatar 1812km season-opener, with either the factory Penske team or the customer Jota squad topping the charts across Prologue and Free Practice 1.
In comparatively hot and windy conditions on Thursday afternoon, all five Porsche 963s broke inside the top seven, with only Ferrari and Cadillac preventing the revered sportscar racing marque from monopolising the front of the pack.
While Porsche drivers wanted to play down their chances until rival teams have shown their true pace, Estre is clear that his team has never looked as competitive in Hypercar as it appears in Qatar.
"At the moment, it looks like we are the strongest we have ever been in this championship," the German driver, who shares the #6 Porsche with Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, told Autosport.
"But there are many, many brands. We will still have to wait for quali. It will give a small taste and the race is very long.
"I think [the track] fits our car pretty well. It's very smooth, it's very flat, which I think our car likes. So the car actually feels very nice to drive.
"We will definitely not be too confident too early. The others can definitely be on pace I'm sure.
"Definitely the car, it feels nice to drive. Just looking at us it's already an improvement compared to some tracks we go to."
Source: Autosport