Though Ferrari has reportedly made a 10 horsepower gain in engine performance for 2018, Mercedes could usurp it with what Lewis Hamilton has dubbed the "party mode".

One of the main stories from last year was the German manufacturer's ability to unleash extra power in qualifying, something that often guaranteed pole positions when their rivals were close.

Matching that peak output for a short period was one of the focuses Ferrari and Red Bull supplier Renault worked on during the winter, but it seems the world champions have moved the bar another step higher.

“Our quali mode is the most fun mode – it should be the ‘party’ mode,” the world champion said. “It is the most power and has the most juice, and it’s when we hit the highest speeds.

“I think [engine boss] Andy [Cowell] and the team have definitely tested it already on the dyno and I look forward to using it on the few occasions we do in the season.”

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It was believed the Mercedes V6 hybrid at full boost was nudging the1000 horsepower last year and, though each car is limited to just three of each major mechanical element for this year, reaching that figure remains top of the agenda.  

“The most positive way of looking at the championship is you’re going to produce a power unit that’s capable of doing seven races and making sure that as it crosses the line at the end of the seventh race you’ve got good confidence," Cowell told Motorsport.com.

“But what you mustn’t do is turn the power down. We need our qualifying mode to be better than ever before, we need our race mode to be better than ever before," he insisted.

Valtteri Bottas is hopeful the uncertainty over his future at Mercedes won't be a long-lived story this year, admitting the talks can be "disturbing".

The Finn's initial one-year deal with the UK-based German manufacturer was only extended by an additional season after a strong start in the circumstances after his late switch from Williams tapered off.

A victory in Abu Dhabi suggested Bottas was ready to up his game again for 2018 but now he has to deliver, knowing performances like that at Yas Marina will only be enough.

"For sure there will be a deadline to get to know what the future is going to hold," he said, ahead of the opening race this weekend in Australia. "Whether it is going to be earlier or later this year we'll see.

"There's no point to drag things too late because as a driver you have a lot of things to think about and to focus on, so contract talks can be a bit disturbing," the three-time race winner added.

"The team knows [that] as well, so when the time is right we'll try to make the decision."

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Bottas is all too aware that drivers are seeing his seat as a potential target for next year, with Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon both vocally expressing interest.

The 28-year-old insists, however, for now, the only pressure being applied is from himself.

"I learned so much with the team last year and now it's been a much smoother start of the year, being able to focus on the things that matter," he explained.

"It's a different feeling. I need to perform, use everything I learned last year and in my five years in Formula 1 [to fight for the title]."

Sebastian Vettel has admitted his career in Formula 1 may not be truly complete without a championship win with the "greatest team" Ferrari.

The German came his closest to achieving that dream last season as the Scuderia closed the gap to Mercedes, however, a crash in Singapore and reliability problems at the next two races ultimately gifted Lewis Hamilton his fourth crown.

Ferrari is expected to be in the thick of the title fight again in 2018 though, and speaking ahead of the season-opening Australian GP, Vettel revealed how much getting the job done would mean to him.

“I am searching for the ultimate satisfaction which is to win with Ferrari who are the greatest team in history and the greatest team in the paddock," he said in Thursday's press conference.

“That is my ultimate target now, and to win against the best which arguably Lewis [Hamilton] is one of them."

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Expanding on the Hamilton point, the 30-year-old admits beating the Briton in a head-to-head fight would perhaps mean more to him than it would to end the streak of dominance by Mercedes.

“If I looked at the people I raced against it has always been the same people from karting, I didn’t race Lewis in karting but I was aware of him,” he said.

“We met a little bit later in F3 when he was a lot better than I was and ultimately then we met in F1.

“I think then you care more about who you race against and what it means as it gives you more satisfaction,” Vettel concluded.

Max Verstappen claims he is the man Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko wants to see repeat the period of Formula 1 championship success Sebastian Vettel had with the team at the start of the decade.

The Dutchman was considered the next big thing to come from the company's young driver program when he joined in 2014 and his rapid rise which saw him in the main Red Bull team just two years later highlighted that view.

With only three race wins to his name, scoring major achievements is taking time for the 20-year-old but his own goals are a little more muted.

"I know that records are very important to Sebastian, and for me, it would be nice, but records aren't something I really need in my life," he told Germany's Auto Bild.

"As long as I am world champion one day, that's the most important thing to me."

Marko, who brought Vettel through the ranks, is more ambitious with his target for Verstappen.

"He wants to repeat the Vettel story and win world championships," Max said, with the now Ferrari driver winning four titles between 2010-2013.

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A solid pre-season has suggested that perhaps this could be the first opportunity he gets to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari on a regular basis, though, as has been the case since 2014, it is the Renault engine which could be the anchor.

"What I want is a much more consistent season than last year," he told Holland's Ziggo Sport Totaal after retiring seven times in 2017. "A lot fewer failures. To win again if possible and the first pole position would be nice."

Daniel Ricciardo must ensure he doesn't damage his relationship with Red Bull while considering his options for 2019, Lewis Hamilton has warned.

The Australian heads into the new Formula 1 season, which begins this weekend with his home race in Melbourne, with uncertainty hanging over his future at the team he joined in 2014.

A recent lack of competitiveness combined with an open admission of a desire to race alongside Hamilton means the 28-year-old is taking his time over deciding what his next career move will be, particularly with seats at Mercedes and Ferrari potentially up for grabs.

"An important thing really is to look at things that drivers have said in the past and try not to alienate the team that you're in," the world champion said Thursday's press conference at Albert Park.

"It's all good and well hoping at some stage to experience something new at another team, but there's a lot of people in our teams, and it's really important to keep them encouraged and focussed on you as a driver, to help you achieve your goal."

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And Hamilton, who is expected to sign a new two-year deal at Mercedes any day, does still think Ricciardo can attain his goal of becoming champion at Red Bull, perhaps as soon as this year.

"He's in a great place still, Red Bull I think this year can really have a fighting chance to win the championship," he claimed.

"An opinion of where you might want to go, if it's not where he currently is, may shift."

FIA president Jean Todt has welcomed the return of two historic races to the Formula 1 calendar for 2018 and is excited by plans for expansion elsewhere.

This season sees the German GP back at Hockenheim, which hosts a race biannually along with the first French GP in 10 years, making its comeback at a former venue in Paul Ricard, something Todt sees as "very good".

Beyond this year too, the Formula One Group lead by commercial director Sean Bratches is also looking worldwide with a second US race in Miami, Argentina looking for their first Grand Prix since 1998 and a street event in Vietnam all mentioned.

"I would love to see a race in Argentina, as the country is very special in motorsport with Juan Manuel Fangio and Carlos Reutemann, they are heroes of motor racing in Argentina," Todt said. "In Latin America, Argentina is one of the best countries to host an F1 race.

"Vietnam, I would be happy to have a new race in Asia, it is a developing country and to bring F1 to developing countries would be very good. If we can put it all together then why not?" he added.

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Holland and Denmark have also been touted, but this comes as the future of F1's most historic races in Italy, Britain and Germany are all under threat with their iconic venues all struggling to burden the cost.

With initial claims by owners Liberty Media that the season could jump to 25 races now easing - and race organisers also looking for better contracts - it will be interesting to see how it shakes out in the next few years.

Legendary triple world champion Niki Lauda and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo are both anticipating a close battle for victory at the Australian GP.

The Austrian, who is now a non-executive chairman at Mercedes, has gone against the caution of his colleague Toto Wolff by inserting the world champion's as the team to beat at Albert Park.

More interestingly, though, is who Lauda sees as the biggest threat to the Brackley-based team.

"I see us a maximum of two tenths ahead, behind Red Bull and then comes Ferrari," he said stating his prediction.

"The W09 is easier to drive and what I noticed were the incredible cornering speeds, which is great for the fans at the track. As is the higher noise level."

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As for Ricciardo, he heads to Melbourne very much the local favourite and keen to finally score a big result at his home Grand Prix and also sees a small margin covering the top three teams.

"I'd love to say we are all within half a second," he told the official F1 website. "I think that's still being quite conservative but realistically, if it leaves six cars within half a second, it's looking alright. I'd like to think that's as big as the gap is going to be spread.

"But Mercedes kept a bit under wraps at testing so I don't want to say we are out of it before it begins, but I think on real pace the Mercedes is still ahead of the Ferrari and Red Bull."

As for whether his Red Bull team has done enough over the winter to jump Ferrari, the man from Perth is undecided.

"I don't know where we stand with Ferrari, I think we are close," Ricciardo said. "I couldn't tell you if we are a tenth quicker or they are."

2016 Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg claims only a "perfect season" is enough for a driver looking to beat Lewis Hamilton to the title.

The former Mercedes driver made the claim as part of his look ahead to the new season after being announced as an analyst for British broadcaster Sky Sports at selected races during 2018.

As one of only two drivers to have beaten the current world champion in the same team over a full year, Rosberg is well placed to reveal what it takes to get the job done against the Briton.

"The weakness Lewis has is a bit of inconsistency," the German claimed. "He has these periods when he is just not on it and if you are able to pounce in those periods and really make the most of it, you can keep him down for a while longer.

"Sebastian [Vettel] did that pretty well last year but when Lewis has his good weekends he is almost unbeatable, he is unbelievably fast and maybe the best guy out there.

"The only way to beat Lewis is to be one-hundred percent with everything, do the perfect season. Otherwise, there is no chance."

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Looking to follow in Rosberg's footsteps is the man who replaced him at the Brackley-based team, Valtteri Bottas. The Finn made a good start keeping within touching distance initially before dropping back in the second half of the year and resulting in the uncertainty over his future beyond this season.

"I hope that Valtteri can be even closer this year because last year he showed some really big flashes of brilliance but it just lacked in consistency," Nico commented.

"I think he can do it, I think he can really ramp it up even further and get very, very close. That is what we want to see, we want to see a good internal battle there."

Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has revealed three DRS zones will be used during this weekend's Australian GP for the first time.

The still divisive overtaking aid, which sees a driver within a second of the car ahead at a detection point able to open a flap in the rear wing for greater top speed, has been restricted to just one or two straights since its inception in 2011.

However, after last year's race in Melbourne proved one of the least eventful - mostly due to the new, faster cars - the FIA has moved to increase overtaking opportunities for this year.

The two zones from previous years remain in place on the start/ finish straight and the run to Turn 3 with a single detection point prior to Turn 14, however, the third location is on the last of the back straights from the high-speed chicane at Turns 11 & 12 to the right-hander at Turn 13.

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With this year's Pirelli tyres also susceptible to higher degradation, this could prove a very effective area if a car behind is able to carry greater speed through the left, right combination. If the driver is unable to follow closely, however, the impact could be negligible.     

Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola believes the almost all-new selection of tyre compounds created for the 2018 Formula 1 season could perplex teams in the early races.

The Italian supplier moved more conservative with their rubber last year, mostly due to the new car designs but also after drivers had asked for the ability to push harder for longer following the high degradation philosophy used since 2011.

Many felt the tyres went too far the other way, however, and that has caused Pirelli to go more aggressive with each compound a step softer than before as well as the introduction of two new compounds.

"I am sure there are some details we do not know because the compounds are more or less all new, except for the Medium," Isola said ahead of the first Grand Prix in Australia.

"We already designed the Soft, Supersoft, Ultrasoft and the Hypersoft is completely new. We had a test last year in Abu Dhabi, we had a test here but you cannot say that you know any detail of any compound with two tests."

The topic of tyres could be key in the battle at the front too, with Mercedes thought to be struggling more with the softer compounds than their rivals and the Ultrasoft, Supersoft and Soft will be used in Melbourne.

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Though that selection is the same as 12 months ago, the method to reach that decision has altered slightly with Pirelli using new simulator technology.

"We have now a very good tool, software that we created this winter to make all the combinations with three different compounds," Isola explained.

"The software is returning the number of strategies in a certain interval of race time. So we always pick up the three compounds that have the highest number of strategies.

"Usually, the target is two stops but it's not only two stops, we are taking the combination which on paper is giving us the higher number of strategies, to try to have more action on track."