By alley - Mar 13, 2015, 2:01 PM ET

F1: Lauda expecting closer Mercedes fight

The battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the Formula 1 title will be closer this year than last season, reckons Niki Lauda.

With Mercedes appearing to have a comfortable advantage over the rest of the field after the first day of running in Australia, Hamilton and Rosberg are clear favourites for the championship again. Although their 2014 battle went all the way to the final round in Abu Dhabi, Lauda thinks that things will be even tighter this time around.

"It'll be closer between Nico and Lewis than it was last year," said Lauda. "Nico has raised his game and is raising his performance, which is normal. Lewis will fight hard, too, but I think it will be even closer than it was last year.

"They are still the same drivers, but Nico will try harder to beat Lewis – that's easy to understand and logical."

Lauda said all the indications were good so far about the Mercedes form, as he said it was too hard to work out who his team's main rival would be.

"The performance of the car is very good. No complaints, everything works," he said. "It's too early to say where the competition is coming from: Ferrari for sure, and Williams, and in the end Red Bull. But at the moment it's too early to say."

Originally on Autosport.com