FORMULA ONE
Ferrari’s Vettel tips Mercedes for victory in China
Shanghai — Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel has tipped Mercedes as favourites to win the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday even after his victory in Formula One’s season-opening round in Australia. "I think Mercedes still has to be the favourite, obviously," Vettel told reporters on a damp afternoon on Thursday. "We know that we have a good package which puts us in a strong place, but we know there’s a lot of things that we need to do to keep up with them and keep the position that we are in now, to fight for good races," he said. Vettel beat Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas by a comfortable margin in Melbourne two weeks ago. Hamilton, who started from the pole position, appeared to have the edge over the German in qualifying but the Ferrari appeared genuinely faster in race trim. Vettel’s Australia win was Ferrari’s first since September 2015 and first in a race to open the season since Bahrain in 2010. It raised hopes the Italian squad could challenge Mercedes for the ti...
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