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Nico Rosberg claims the real Ferrari has yet to emerge following a troubled start to the current Formula 1 season for the Scuderia.

After Kimi Raikkonen's SF16-H suffered a mechanical failure during the season-opening grand prix in Australia, Sebastian Vettel endured the first DNS of his F1 career with a power unit issue on the formation lap in Bahrain.

In contrast Rosberg has faultlessly won the two races to leave Raikkonen and Vettel already trailing in the drivers' standings by 32 and 35 points respectively.

Rosberg, who finished 10.2 seconds clear of Raikkonen come the chequered flag at the Sakhir circuit, is fully expecting Ferrari to come on strong.

"I was in control, we were managing the race, strategy-wise, pitstop-wise, taking our time, just bringing the race home," said Rosberg.

"At the same time, of course, Kimi showed good pace in the race, and we know that Ferrari is super close. We saw that in qualifying.

"So we need to keep pushing because they haven't shown what they are capable of yet, that's clear because they've had so many mishaps which have cost them dearly.

"So we haven't seen the real Ferrari yet. We need to be careful because they are coming at us strong."

Rosberg, who has now won five successive races over the course of the last two seasons, also has no doubt team-mate Lewis Hamilton will bounce back.

From pole position Hamilton has been bogged down by poor starts, with his latest in Bahrain resulting in a first corner collision with Williams' Valtteri Bottas that compromised his race.

"I'm not rejoicing in his issues, I'm really focused on doing my job, getting the perfect start as I did today and beating him in that way," said Rosberg.

"That's what I'm pleased about for now, but Lewis is going to come back, I know that as he has been so strong over the last two years. That's for definite."

Assessing his drive off the line that got him past Hamilton on the run down to Turn 1, Rosberg said: "I'd made good starts all weekend.

"So I was confident we'd made progress, and in the end the start was great, so I was really happy about that.

"It was a great feeling because it was a proper awesome launch from the dirty side of the grid, and that was the win, right there, that start. So that was really important, it was key."

Hamilton, meanwhile, is adamant he is "not worried" by his starts.

"The first one [in Australia] was clutch related, while the second is something else which is not an issue," he said.

"It's something we'll fix for the next race.

"I don't think it's going to be an issue.

"It's how handle the whole process. It's not entirely my fault, but ultimately it was my reaction and that's what lost the time today.

"It's stuff we're working on internally, it's not a big issue, but obviously it has a domino effect."