Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has declined to hit back at a jibe made by Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda.

Earlier, former Ferrari driver Lauda claimed that the Maranello marque was struggling in F1 because of its Italian "spaghetti" culture.

Now, referring to new technical boss Mattia Binotto, Lauda said: "You consider Binotto to be Italian? Actually he is Swiss, and it shows.

"Ferrari works now because there is a Swiss who organises the Italians, making them work but leaving them free to express their imagination and ideas."

When told about Lauda's comments, Ferrari president Marchionne told La Repubblica: "I will not talk.

"If I do, I will send him a few insults. And I'm not going to insult a friend."

Ferrari's self-imposed media ban may now be lifting, as even its own high expectations for 2017 are surpassed by the early performance of Sebastian Vettel.

"We are happy, no doubt about it," Marchionne said.

Indeed, the 2017 car has been born well, but most insiders believe that the title will be won by a more intense than usual development race.

"Yes," Marchionne agrees. "In recent years we seemed to get a bit tired when developing the car. But this year we will not.

"There is a programme that is going ahead at full speed. We just need a bit of time."

The 2017 season continues on Sunday in Bahrain.