Marko: Vettel provocatively lifted on his fastest lap

Red Bull F1 consultant Helmut Marko is wary of Ferrari ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix, pointing to when Sebastian Vettel cheekily lifted off on the main straight during his final day in the cockpit, during testing in Barcelona, but still set the fastest time of the day.

Indeed Vettel appeared to be sandbagging at various points on the Circuit de Catalunya during that his final day in the cockpit of the SF70-H.

Marko told Servus TV, "What worries me somewhat is I know Vettel very well. He provocatively lifted on his fastest lap on the start and finish straight. Everybody could tell."

"And if you do something like this, then your self-confidence and the knowledge about having a lot more in the car is huge. Ferrari is very strong and reliable as well. That's the difference to last year."

However the outspoken Austrian believes that none of the top teams have yet revealed their fire-power, "Nobody has shown his cards properly. If you carry 10 kg more fuel, you gain about 0.35 seconds. Furthermore, engine mappings differ. This can gain you up to one second - or it doesn't.

"A lot has been kept in the dark. But if the race in Melbourne would have taken place with the same kind of temperatures we had [in Barcelona testing] then Ferrari would be in front, for sure," added Marko.

According to the outspoken Austrian Mercedes remain the team to beat, but he does not believe that the team's new driver Valtteri Bottas will be a threat, "The testing showed that Valtteri will not be able match Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes are still on top but it will not be one-two for them, there will be others between the two."

Teams are expected to cargo in to Melbourne a raft of updates for their new cars, with Red Bull apparently keeping the very best bits for their RB13 for the season opener.

Marko dropped a telling hint, "Normally the teams take new parts to Australia. As for what we will have, I say only that our colours will definitely be the same!"