Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes Ferrari currently has the upperhand over its rivals going by what he's seen on track during the opening pre-season Formula 1 test.
Ferrari topped both the first and second days of testing before Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat took the honour on Wednesday, although Sebastian Vettel remained just over half a second shy, and whilst test times are usually a poor indicator of form, Ferrari have also topped the lap charts, proving its reliability.
That combined with trackside observations has led to Marko to put Ferrari as current favourites, followed by his own squad and reigning champions Mercedes.
"What I saw yesterday on the circuit, for sure Ferrari at the moment is the fastest car, and behind them is Red Bull and Mercedes," he told Sky F1.
However he remains optimistic Red Bull can challenge at the front again despite their switch to Honda power, which so far has impressed and come as a pleasant surprise.
"Let's see what we can do till Melbourne, but we are quite optimistic. This year we can win races from our own strength and not only at special circuits like Monte Carlo and Singapore.
"We've had a very good time [at testing]. The engine is reliable and I would say we have never had such a good preparation for a season.
"It's a new period, we don't look back, we look forward. It's a very good relationship. The concern was of course reliability, but so far there's not been a problem so far. There's a new culture too, but it fits very well with our people."
It's a sentiment echoed by team boss Christian Horner who told MotorsportWeek.com the following on Thursday morning: "[We're] very happy with the engine and how smoothly things have gone this week.
"Really pleased with the whole chassis/engine integration aspect. A very pleasant surprise, something we hadn't immediately expected."
