Hamilton claims Red Bull 'a different animal this year'

Lewis Hamilton has said Red Bull "can be favourites if they want" after Mercedes' rivals put on a dominant display in pre-season testing.

Mercedes ended a four-year period of Red Bull dominance when taking its first constructors' world title in 2014 and the German manufacturer has refused to relinquish the trophy in the years since.

The seven-year period of success is the longest ever seen in F1, with Mercedes claiming the drivers' title in each of these years - Hamilton securing all but one with Nico Rosberg taking the crown in 2016.

Ignoring the timesheets from pre-season testing - which were topped by Max Verstappen and Red Bull - Mercedes openly admitted to struggling to get to grips with the W12 whilst the Red Bull RB16B looked assured on the track.

“They can be favourites if they want," said Hamilton when asked if Red Bull had put Mercedes on the back foot.

"They are looking strong. I don’t really focus on that kind of stuff. They have had some good running, Max – I think both the drivers have been looking strong and they are going to be a different machine or animal this year with a really good strong line-up of the two drivers and I think a really good car.

“Max won the last race. You can only assume they are going to be right there if not at the front in the first race and it is going to be a great long battle with them throughout the year.”

Mercedes finished 254 points clear of Red Bull in the constructors' standings last year and Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas added he expected a closer fight this time around.

The Finn said: “It is so hard to say at the moment where we are, where other teams are and obviously we don’t know their run programme, what engine modes they are running, what kind of fuel load.

“But I have a feeling it is going to be close. That is all I can say.”

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