Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes team is now Red Bull's closest challenger and will be capable of mounting a sustained bid for Formula One glory this year.

In the wake of last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, in which champion Red Bull was split by Sebastian Vettel's decision to ignore team orders and pass teammate Mark Webber to win, the 2008 champion has pointed to the potential of his outfit.

In the same race, Hamilton's teammate and friend Nico Rosberg was asked to finish fourth behind him and obeyed.