Ferrari have yet to show true colours, says Rosberg

The German, who has scored a maximum 50 points after winning in Australia and Bahrain, told reporters he had no illusions about the challenge ahead. “We know Ferrari are super close, we saw it in qualifying and we need to keep pushing,” said Mercedes driver Rosberg. “They haven’t shown what they are able to do yet in these first two races.

“They’ve had so many mishaps that have cost them dearly so we haven’t seen the real Ferrari yet. We need to be careful, they are coming at us strong.” 

While Mercedes have won the last eight races, and Rosberg five in a row, there was evidence to suggest Ferrari have closed the gap and could have won in Australia and Bahrain. In Melbourne, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen jumped Rosberg and triple champion team mate Lewis Hamilton at the start and potentially had a winning strategy until the race was stopped and re-started after Fernando Alonso’s big crash.

Vettel finished third after a wrong tyre strategy call while Raikkonen retired with a turbo failure.