Ferrari looking promising after week one of testing

The first week of testing so far has indicated that we could perhaps see a close fight between Mercedes and Ferrari this upcoming season.

Although it is very difficult to tell from pre-season testing, Ferrari have been matching the pace of the Silver Arrows throughout the week, with experts also pointing out that the Maranello team seem to have a much more stable front end of the car to their Brackley rivals.

Despite now being retired, Nico Rosberg still remains at Mercedes for an ambassadorial role, but he is hoping that Ferrari can take the fight to Mercedes in 2017.

"There would be worse things -- fingers crossed," said the German. "Red Bull seem a bit further away at the moment but maybe they can join in the mix too," he added.

Despite the view that Red Bull are lagging behind at the moment, it is expected that a lot of Adrian Newey's aerodynamic developments will be added to the car next week.

"Nobody should assess anything yet," said.Daniel Ricciardo. "The times are simply not representative.

"I expected Ferrari to be at the front, for sure Mercedes, so that's no surprise. In the coming week we will get a clearer picture, but if Mercedes and Ferrari are ahead then we do not intend to keep it that way."

Sebastian Vettel also said that it is impossible to predict where the team will be in Melbourne, but admits that the year has got off to a flying start.

"Will we do better? I have balls, but they're not crystal so they don't tell me much. The potential is impossible to say today, but we're not trying to look left and right. It is a solid beginning," Vettel said.

Rosberg recently said that races would be won and lost on the ground of fitness and concentration levels, however Vettel disagrees: "I can't imagine that. We will quickly get used to the higher forces. But it does feel more like ten years ago with tyres that you can push harder, so that's nice."

Fergal Walsh