World champion Nico Rosberg has predicted that Mercedes will this year beat Ferrari yet again.

That is despite the fact that the latest whispers coming out of Maranello are positive.

Germany's Auto Bild reports that Ferrari have hit their reliability target for the 2018 engine, even though the technical team set about improving the 'pre-ignition' feature.

However, 2016 world champion Rosberg told RTL: "My prediction corresponds to what happened last year.

"So Lewis Hamilton wins, this time just one point ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

"After that is Lewis's teammate Valtteri Bottas and the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo."

Another former F1 driver, Timo Glock, agreed: "I think Ferrari had a very good base last year and they can build on that.

"But pressure can change a lot, even if we see a very exciting fight to the end."

The new season begins next month with the Australian Grand Prix.