Lando Norris makes Lewis Hamilton declaration as Ferrari's title bid assessed

Lando Norris reckons championship glory for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari "would be the icing on the cake" as he evaluated the Scuderia's title chances.

Norris and McLaren head to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as respective title favourites following a strong pre-season test where the Briton put in a particularly eye-catching long-run on the second day.

This was a stunningly quick race simulation, with Ferrari slotting into second place as new driver Hamilton continues to get up to speed with his new team.

Norris and Hamilton have never battled for a world championship title, and have only had fleeting skirmishes on-track, but the McLaren driver feels Hamilton could cap his career by delivering a first drivers' title to Maranello since 2007 - and break the joint-record of seven he holds with Michael Schumacher at the same time.

"It would be incredible to see Lewis win in red with Ferrari," Norris told NBC Sports.

"It would make him the best driver ever in Formula 1 and the most successful, he pretty much is that, but topping it off winning an eighth world championship, with Ferrari, would be the icing on the cake. 

"I would love to see it, but they are both incredibly quick drivers, I rate Charles [Leclerc] very highly and have a lot of respect for him and his talent, he is one of the fastest drivers in Formula 1.

"Ferrari is a team that you can never doubt, they've probably been the most competitive team over the last 10-20-30 years, they're always at the top, so you can never doubt them.

"Last year, they were on a similar trend to us, but we managed to catch and overtake them in that trend, but they've also been improving a lot lately. 

"They've had a lot of refreshes in the guy running the team and they've been able to improve so I am expecting good competition, but also from Mercedes and I also expect Red Bull to be good. 

"But the form Ferrari had at the end of last year, they were probably our biggest competitors more so than than Red Bull, so I am excited to up against the team in red because they're an incredible team, and to go up against Charles and Lewis will be exciting too."