MELBOURNE, Australia -- The majority of the Formula One paddock is convinced Mercedes are the favourites for victory ahead of this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton is not so sure.
After securing four titles in the past four years, Mercedes has become F1's team to beat and once again showed impressive pace in pre-season testing earlier this month. That led rivals Red Bull and Ferrari to single out Mercedes as the clear favourites heading to Australia, but Hamilton warns against reading too much into the pre-race predictions.
"I think at this time of the year everyone is trying to hype someone else up and we are the perfect target because we are the world champions," he said at an event in Melbourne with fuel partners Petronas.