Lewis Hamilton has reiterated his claim that Ferrari are favourites to take victory at the season opening race in Melbourne this weekend, following a very strong pre-season test for the Italian team.
Ferrari not only set the two fastest laps during testing with drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, but they did it the supersoft tyre, rather than the quicker ultrasoft, and also showed good reliability.
That led Hamilton to make the 'favourite' claim during the second test and he pushed it once again on Thursday during the FIA press conference in Australia.
"I see Ferrari being the quickest; they're definitely the favourites, but Sebastian [Vettel] is trying to keep a lid on it," said the Briton.
Hamilton also suspects Red Bull has yet to truly show its hand, adding: "I'm also keen to see what Red Bull brings here. We didn't see them bring many upgrades to the car [during testing], so I assume they're going to bring something."
Despite talking up his rivals, Hamilton is keen to show that Mercedes can maintain its form from the previous seasons.
"As far as I'm aware, no team has won back-to-back titles through regulation changes, so we're here to do what nobody else has done."
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