Former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore says that Ferrari is now on an even footing with Mercedes in the 2018 Formula 1 world championship.
"This Ferrari is better than the last," he told Italy's Rai radio this week. "I would say that it is on par with the Mercedes.
"We will finally see a good championship with two teams having a 50 per cent chance to win the races," He added.
Briatore was speaking after Sebastian Vettel claimed victory in the first two races of the season. The last time a driver won both of the opening races didn't then go on to win the championship was in 1882.
But Briatore wasn't especially confident that Ferrari would sweep to victory this season, despite their flying start.
"Australia is not typical," he pointed out. "Bahrain is more indicative. And there, Ferrari did a great race.
"They changed strategy at the right time. Vettel drove in an incredible way at the end with his tyres like that.
"[But] had Hamilton been behind in Bottas' place it would have been different," he warned.
Lewis Hamilton had started from ninth place due to a gearbox penalty. Valtteri Bottas lined up on the grid in third place but was unable to find his way past Vettel in the closing laps.
Briatore is also concerned whether Ferrari will be able to keep their campaign going for a full season. The team started off strongly in 2017 but then faltered after the summer break.
"Ferrari is very competitive [at the moment]," he said. "Now it will be down to development."
Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi suggested that the team might finally have found the level of maturity and focus required to win the title.
"I was there [in Bahrain] and I saw so much professionalism," he told RMC. "Before when they won a race there was great euphoria. But in Sakhir I noticed a lot of concentration."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Saturday's proceedings were cut short due to a heavy rain storm rolling into Sao Paulo…
The FIA has postponed Saturday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying session due to adverse weather…
McLaren's successful 1-2 finish in the Brazilian Sprint race came with a dose of complexity,…
Max Verstappen has been demoted from third to fourth in the final standings of Saturday’s…
Lando Norris secured victory in Saturday's Sprint event in Sao Paulo thanks to a McLaren…
McLaren clinched a valuable 1-2 sweep of the São Paulo sprint race, with polesitter Oscar…