Felipe Massa believes the usual suspects will again be challenging for honours this year, and he is confident Ferrari will be among them.
Red Bull showed just what they are capable of on day one at Barcelona this week with Mark Webber's time more than one second better than that of the second-placed Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
However, the pack has been very close during pre-season testing so far and many believe it will be the same once the new campaign gets underway.
Massa feels Red Bull and McLaren will once again be the leading contenders for silverware.
"Sure Red Bull will be one of the top teams and top cars for the Championship - this year nothing changed in the rules," the Brazilian said.
"I don't believe they lose the direction as everything is similar.
"I believe it is the same for McLaren. Everyone knows more or less the direction, so we need to work and put everything together in our car to be in that direction as well."
Asked by Autosport how confident he was that Ferrari will be at the right end of the grid, he replied: "Sure I am confident. You are always very confident at the beginning of the season, and the feeling of the car is positive as well.
"This year is definitely much better for the feeling of the car, and the car behaves more in the good direction.
"Until you drive the qualifying with the same fuel and the same tyres and everything, it is difficult to say. But I trust in the team and I hope we can be there in the top level."
