Two former Formula 1 drivers have said that they do not think Ferrari are ready to beat Mercedes to the world championship.

The team have scooped 33 points from the first two races of the year, 50 behind last year's champions Mercedes.

"No," Gerhard Berger, a 10-time grand prix winner and former team boss, told Germany's Auto Bild emphatically.

"The gap Mercedes had at the end of last year was just too big - Ferrari can't catch it up this quickly," he predicted.

David Coulthard agrees that, notwithstanding the fact that Ferrari is closer so far in 2016, Mercedes will surely maintain the edge this season.

"I expect them to win the championship again this year," the former McLaren and Red Bull driver, now a respected British television pundit, told Laureus.

"To dominate I think is going to be difficult. I do think Ferrari will keep them on their toes, but I do see the championship battle to be between the two Mercedes drivers," Coulthard added.

To that end, he thinks that early leader Nico Rosberg finally has a good chance of beating reigning triple world championship Lewis Hamilton to the crown.

"The statistics say that every driver who has won five races in a row will be world champion. It would be a shame if Nico Rosberg breaks that run."

The season continues with the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.