Lewis: Ferrari to be feared
LEWIS HAMILTON admits Mercedes will face a huge challenge from Ferrari this season.
Hamilton is targeting a sixth world championship while his Mercedes team have won the constructors title for the last five years.
But the Brit has been impressed by Ferrari during the opening days of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
He said: “Ferrari are very strong. It appears they have a better package than last year, which means it will be a bigger challenge for us.
“For us it’s been just digging deep, trying to understand the car, pretty much the same as the beginning of every year.
“The Ferraris always look strong, particularly in the last few years they look very strong right at the beginning so it’s to be expected.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the opening two races last year, but Hamilton ended the season with 11 wins to Vettel’s five.
The champion said Mercedes are thinking only about themselves right now.
He added: “I am competing with everyone. I don’t know who’s going to be quickest.
“You can’t say just Ferrari. You don’t know where the Red Bulls are. Who knows what people are going to bring up for the first race?
“At the moment I don’t really hold any worry about anything. I just try to focus on our job. I don’t know what everyone’s doing, there’s different fuel loads. I’ve been in this business a long time so I know how it goes over the first week and into the second. It’s not a time where we need to be focusing on others.”
Williams finally got their car out on the track after missing the first two days of testing while Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat posted the fastest time on day three.