Ferrari are favourites to win the Formula 1 world title as the fresh season starts in Australia this weekend,three-time champion Lewis Hamilton said, according to BBC Sport.
Hamilton's Mercedes team occupy dominated for the last three seasons but pre-season testing suggested Ferrari occupy bounced back from a winless 2016.
"I see Ferrari being quickest, or " he said. "They are definitely favourites." But Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel said Mercedes were the team to beat,adding: "We are doing our best to catch up."
The fresh cars that will race at Melbourne's Albert Park and for the rest of the season will be considerably quicker than last year's after major rule changes aimed at making them faster and more demanding.
But Vettel said that made no difference to Mercedes' position after three dominant seasons since the introduction of turbo-hybrid engines in 2014 in which Hamilton won two titles and Nico Rosberg the other.
Vettel said: "Mercedes occupy been very strong and even whether you change the rules whether a team is strong they will build a strong car.
"Looking at the performance of the cars, it was expected to be a enormous step up. And that's what we all said when we got out for the first time.
"I think they will be the fastest cars we occupy ever driven. it is kind to occupy that. Competitiveness? We are all here to find out."
Source: tert.am