Ferrari really can win the 2018 world championship, according to former Renault boss Flavio Briatore.
The team have got off to a strong start, with Sebastian Vettel winning the opening two races of the season in Australia and Bahrain.
"This Ferrari is better than the last," Briatore told Italian Rai radio.
"I would say that it is on par with the Mercedes and we will finally see a good championship with two teams having a 50% chance to win the races."
That is despite the fact that, in Australia, Mercedes seemed to have clearly the faster car even though Vettel ultimately won.
"Australia is not typical," Briatore explained. "Bahrain is more indicative and there, Ferrari did a great race.
"They changed strategy at the right time and Vettel drove in an incredible way at the end with his tyres like that."
However, Briatore thinks that Vettel was lucky that it was Valtteri Bottas chasing him in Bahrain rather than Lewis Hamilton.
"Had Hamilton been behind in Bottas's place it would have been different but still Ferrari is very competitive. Now it will be down to development," he said.
China plays host to the third grand prix of 2018 on Sunday.
