Vettel: It is very clear who is the favourite

In reaction to Lewis Hamilton declaring that Ferrari are favourites, ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 season, Sebastian Vettel has pointed to Mercedes as being the team to beat starting with this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton declared during the drivers' press conference in Melbourne, "I see Ferrari being the quickest at the moment. And I think they'll definitely be the favourites."

To which Vettel responded, "Obviously Mercedes has been in a very, very strong form the last three years. Even with changes to the rules and regulations, if the team is strong then they will build a strong car the year after, no matter what they do.

"It is very clear who is the favourite. For all of us, we are obviously trying our best to catch up. How much we have succeeded we will see. As the season goes on obviously, I'm sure the cars will have big progression."

Ferrari, burnt by over expectation last year, have been deliberately low key during the winter, and in Melbourne Vettel was still downplaying the team's prospects.

"I don’t know which expectations we have from the outside but inside we have none. We hope to be very high up. That’s our target and we know there’s a lot of work ahead of us. We will focus on the single steps and we have to keep pushing."

"So far we don't know anything. So it will be exciting to find out where we all are on Saturday and Sunday to get a first impression."

"Testing times doesn't matter much, I think it matters much more what you show from here onwards," added Vettel who last year failed to score a grand prix victory.