Sebastian Vettel no longer considers himself an underdog in the battle with Mercedes at the front of the field.
Vettel is fighting for a second-place finish in the drivers' championship this year and leads Mercedes' Nico Rosberg by three points. He has scored three wins this year, the same amount as Rosberg but seven shy of Hamilton's tally. But despite Mercedes' still holding a clear advantage at most circuits, Vettel says he sees himself as a genuine competitor.
"I don't consider myself the underdog," he said. "I know that we are not the favourites, but I think that we showed since the beginning of the season we are not somewhere in the midfield. If we get our act together we have a reasonable chance of finishing on the podium on a regular basis and I think that is what we have achieved so far.
"I think overall this year is very different to last year, which means a completely new situation for me with a new team and joining Ferrari has been a great experience so far. But we also know where we want to go and where we want to be in the future, so there is a lot of work still ahead of us. Certainly we will be a lot happier if people call us the favourite and not the underdog in the future."
When asked if he thought the Ferrari would be well suited to the remodelled Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit in Mexico City this weekend, Vettel added: "In general, I think we have done a great job this year on the power unit side and there is a long straight here which should help us. As I said before, unfortunately we are not yet the favourites but I think we are just behind and we try our best to be as close as possible to Mercedes and ideally in front."