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Valtteri Bottas is not letting Mercedes' continuous pre-season pace fool him into thinking it will be leading the pack in Melbourne, believing nobody should see this as a foregone conclusion.
The Finn held the fastest lap time of winter testing until this was beaten by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel on Thursday morning, somewhat justifying Bottas' cautiousness.
"We are definitely not confident that we are in front," he said. "We are not relaxing, we are not in a comfortable situation at all. We do feel that the other teams have made good progress over the winter.
"Ferrari are looking very strong, Red Bull can always surprise, and other teams can be strong. But Ferrari look solid, strong and fast - and who knows what people will bring to Melbourne. We should not underestimate them at all. We're not saying we're number one, we're just working flat out."
Vettel's speed on the ultrasoft Pirelli tyre - with which he claimed the fastest lap time - greatly impressed Bottas, especially as he eased off, supposedly compromising his own lap.
"A very fast time," Bottas said in response. "It's difficult to know what type of things they were running and how much they were taking out of their car but a respectable time and very quick. Definitely, we shouldn't underestimate them."
Mason Hawker
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