BARCELONA, Spain -- Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari is "bluffing" over its true pace after seeing Sebastian Vettel's eye-opening fastest lap on Thursday, one he thinks could have been even quicker.
Vettel topped the penultimate day of winter testing with a 1:19.024 on ultra-soft tyres, 0.3s quicker than Hamilton's effort on same compound. Even before today's session, Hamilton has been impressed with Ferrari's start to 2017, saying at the start of this week's test that the Italian team is emerging as favourites for the new campaign.
Many in the paddock observed how Vettel appeared to back off before reaching the finish line on his best effort, something which did not go unnoticed by Hamilton.
"I think Ferrari are bluffing and that they are a lot quicker than they are showing," Hamilton said. "They're very close to us. It's difficult right now to say exactly who is quicker. But they are very close, if not faster.
"Whatever the case, I can't wait to go out and compete."
Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas is also wary of Ferrari's pace ahead of the final day of winter testing, though he thinks Red Bull is also yet to show its true performance yet.
When asked if he thinks Mercedes will still be the team to beat in 2017, Bottas replied: "I think that is very difficult to say. We are definitely not confident that we are in the front. We are not relaxing or being in a comfortable situation at all.
"I think we do feel the other teams have made good progress over the winter. I think Ferrari is looking very strong, Red Bull can always surprise. Even some other teams can be close but definitely some other teams like Ferrari, they are looking very solid and strong and fast.
"Who knows what people are bringing to Melbourne. We are aware that we should not underestimate them. We're not at this point saying 'OK, we are the number one', we are just working flat-out. We are still here tonight, and tomorrow on track. Then working all through next week. I'm also going back to the factory, have a chat with the engineers and try and get all the information I can to be more than ready for Melbourne but then it's Melbourne and we will see."