Lewis Hamilton claims Ferrari have been "bluffing" with their impressive pace at Winter Testing and insists they could be faster than Mercedes once the season begins.

After nine years without a constructors' title, Ferrari have been one of the standout performers in Barcelona, finishing top of the timesheets on three out of the seven days and setting the quickest time overall.

That speed has alerted triple world champions Mercedes, and Hamilton believes the Scuderia are holding even more back for the start of the campaign in Melbourne.

Bottas: Mercedes can't be confident

"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. Just a couple more weeks to go…"

Fastest lap per team Team Driver Date Tyre Time Ferrari Sebastian Vettel Day Seven Ultrasofts 1:19.024 Mercedes Valtteri Bottas Day Six Supersofts 1:19.310 Williams Felipe Massa Day Six Ultrasofts 1:19.420 Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo Day Five Ultrasofts 1:19.900 Force India Esteban Ocon Day Seven Ultrasofts 1:20.161 Toro Rosso Daniil Kvyat Day Seven Supersofts 1:20.416 Haas Kevin Magnussen Day Seven Supersofts 1:20.863 Renault Nico Hulkenberg Day Six Supersofts 1:21.213 McLaren Stoffel Vandoorne Day Seven Ultrasofts 1:21.348 Sauber Marcus Ericsson Day Three Supersofts 1:21.824

Sebastian Vettel's 1:19.024 on ultrasoft tyres on the penultimate day was the quickest lap at the Circuit de Catalunya since 2009, and Hamilton's comments echo team-mate Valtteri Bottas' thoughts on Ferrari's challenge.

Vettel: Merc still team to beat

"We are definitely not confident that we are in front," Bottas, whose previous supersoft benchmark was beaten by 0.3s by Vettel. "We should not underestimate them at all."

Even Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo conceded that the Italian outfit were better placed to challenge Mercedes than his own team but Vettel, despite admitting the SF70-H is a step forward, has been quick to play down Ferrari's chances.

Rachel Brookes rounds up the penultimate day of F1 pre-season testing Rachel Brookes rounds up the penultimate day of F1 pre-season testing

"Mercedes are still very fast if you look at their long-run pace," the German, who backed off in the final sector on his quickest lap, said. "Look at the number of laps they have done. They are the ones to beat. Historically, look at how slow they go in testing before ramping it up for races.

"Right now, it doesn't matter where we are here. You don't get any points now."

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