Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes Ferrari's 2017 power unit could be better than the class-leading Mercedes unit, which has dominated the hybrid-engine era.
The Mercedes team have won 51 of the 60 races held during the hybrid era, and although their chassis is ranked amongst the best, their power unit is often regarded as the most powerful and reliable and a massive reason for their recent F1 domination.
But Ferrari have now emerged as a real rival to that dominance after Sebastian Vettel qualified second, just over two-tenths adrift of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, in Australia before going on to win the race.
Steiner believes the latest-spec Ferrari unit is at least a match for the Mercedes, and could even be better.
"With the engine, there is not just one area that is better, it’s the whole package that has improved from last year," he said.
"It’s now as competitive as a Mercedes engine, if not better."
Although Haas, a Ferrari engine customer, suffered a double-DNF in Melbourne, Romain Grosjean qualified a best-sixth and was running seventh before his retirement. Steiner credits the Ferrari power unit as a major factor in their own performance in Australia.
"Ferrari won in Australia, but everybody is developing and trying to get better," he added. "It’s always going to be a development race. They’ve made a good step, and without that help from Ferrari, we wouldn’t be where we are."
