Vettel insists Mercedes remains F1 favourite

The German put an end to Ferrari's victory drought in the Melbourne opener after beating Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, who had started from pole position.

It was Ferrari's first win since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, and one that confirmed the Italian squad's strong pre-season form was genuine.

Vettel, however, reckons Mercedes remains the team to beat and says Ferrari will have to work very hard to keep up.

"I think Mercedes has to be the favourite," said Vettel in a press conference ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. "We had a strong first race but we really go race by race.

"We know we have a good package which puts us in a good place, but we know there are a lot of things we need to do to keep up with them and keep up with the position we are in now to fight for good races.

"The victory is the best medicine for everyone, it is good we did that and we move on."

He added: "After one race it's easy to say this year is better than last year, but it is only one race. The team has evolved, we are generally in a better position, people are more comfortable.

"We are more confident in the way we work now and hopefully we can keep up the trend to show it on track."

The four-time champion acknowledges that having won in Australia does not mean his team can be automatically expected to fight for victory in China this weekend, given the different nature of the circuit.

"It is completely different," he said. "The weather is completely different looking outside now. It is always a grand prix full of surprises.

"In 2007, my first race here, I started 17th or 18th in the Toro Rosso and finished fourth. We had the rain helping us at that time. You never know what happens around here.

"It is a demanding track for tyres and cars in particular and also drivers – so it's difficult to predict anything."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble