In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat Hamilton, who hopes to turn the tables at the Chinese race on Sunday.
"They won it fair and square and that's what makes it exciting," Hamilton said.
"The good thing is it is closer and it is going to be margins like that. It's cool to see the racing is that close."
Hamilton admitted Ferrari "did a better job" than Mercedes in Melbourne.
"There are going to be races where that fluctuates," he said, "where perhaps they are ahead and we're behind or the other way around, but we hope to make it that we are ahead more.
"Their car is stronger in certain areas and ours is stronger in certain areas and that is what's going to make the season exciting."
Vettel, meanwhile, insisted that beating Mercedes "is not easy at all".
"We have had one race and managed to beat them but as a global installation or infrastructure they are the team to beat," said the German four-time world champion.
"It is clear what we want to do - whether we will be able to time will tell, but i think the team is on the right path.
"Mercedes has to be still the favourite. We had a very strong first race but the way we look at it in the team is we go race by race.
"We know we have a good package, which puts us in a strong place. We know there are a lot of things we need to do to keep up with them and keep the position we are in now to fight for good races."

Hatfield Colliery closed in June with the loss of 430 jobs after almost a century of production.
The short ceremony took place at the mine, near Doncaster.
John Grogan, chairman of the Hatfield Employee Benefit Trust, which has run the mine since 2013, said it was "the end of an era".
He said: "On Monday the company will be wound up in the High Court and that will represent the end of coal mining in South Yorkshire after many generations.
"In 1980 there were 50,000 miners in South Yorkshire. On Monday morning when we're in the High Court there will be none.
"We're presenting this piece of coal as a symbol of our respect for all the miners who have gone before us in South Yorkshire and helped build the economy of our country and keep the lights on for many decades."
Accepting the gift the Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones said: "On behalf of Doncaster and South Yorkshire I'm humbled to accept this."
The only remaining deep coal mine in England, Kellingley colliery in North Yorkshire, is due to close later this year.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton says he expects a close season-long battle with Ferrari in which the advantage fluctuates between the two teams.
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The last lump of coal mined in South Yorkshire has been presented to Doncaster's mayor at a ceremony marking the end of mining in the region.