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Red Bull swept the front row at Sakhir with Max Verstappen on pole and his team-mate Sergio Perez alongside.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are behind in third and fourth, but rather than focusing on consolidating those positions and defending from Aston Martin and Mercedes that line up behind, Clear is adamant Ferrari is looking ahead.
Crucially, Leclerc saved a set of new soft tyres for the start by sacrificing his final run in Q3, a decision made in the briefing before qualifying which the team stuck to.
Clear, whose official job title is driving coach for Leclerc, believes Ferrari is more competitive than many have assumed.
“We do believe that around here at the moment, Red Bull really have a bit of a margin from the rest of the pack,” said Clear. “I think had Charles run again yesterday, maybe he could have sniffed it. But I think we were comfortable with our decision. So we’re maybe closer to them than people think.
“I think today we’re quite happy to take the race to them, I don’t think we’re looking over our shoulder and just trying to stay in third place.
“We’re going to be having a go at Perez, and if we can take on Perez in the first stint, then I think we can hound Max for the rest of the race. I think we can make a race of it.
“So where have they got an advantage on us? Well, they’ve got a tenth and a half in qualifying. That’s all we know at the mom …