Binotto: "Completely wrong" to think Ferrari are ahead

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has insisted that the Italian team aren't the quickest on the grid, as Binotto says it's "completely wrong" to put the Scuderia ahead of Mercedes.

The Italian team are seen as the team to beat, with the Scuderia putting in the fastest times in the first week of testing.

"We are still trying to learn our car, trying to understand the limit of performance but also the reliability," Binotto told Motorsport.com.

"These days are very important in the preparation of the entire season. I'm happy to know that Hamilton believes we are faster. I believe they are very strong, I believe Mercedes will be very, very strong in Australia.

"It would be completely wrong to think today that we're faster than them. Here, we may run different fuel levels, we've got different programmes.

"I'm not expecting them to be behind us, or [if Mercedes is behind] they will be very, very close."

Ferrari have had some reliability issues though, with Sebastian Vettel crashing his SF90 yesterday because he lost the front left, a technical issue. The German's car stopped again on Friday during his long run.

"I'm pleased because we could do a lot of work, but I'm not pleased with where we are at the moment.

"I would like to be faster, I would like to be more reliable. I'm pleased the car is behaving as expected, that's the starting point.

"But I know as well there are many issues to be addressed and performance to be pushed forward. I will not be pleased today.

"Certainly the fact the car is running properly is a good starting point, but that's it."