Toto Wolff admits Haas may be ’best of the rest’ in Melbourne.
It is clear that Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari will lead the way as the 2018 season begins.
But many think it will be the small Ferrari-linked Haas team in front of Renault and a densely packed midfield.
"From our statistical data they (Haas) seem very fast," Mercedes boss Wolff told Brazil’s Globo.
"But if someone is 20kg lighter, the difference is eight tenths. I really hope they are there.
"Gene Haas is a real entrepreneur and has taken some risks, and Gunther Steiner is the crazy guy giving his all. He knows what he’s doing," Wolff added.
Former F1 driver and GPDA president Alex Wurz agrees that Haas may be the fourth force in 2018.
"Based on the tests, it is Haas," he told Der Standard newspaper.
"Otherwise it would be Renault, because they are a factory team on the uptrend. But basically the midfield is almost too close together for predictions."