Hamilton is wary of the threat from Ferrari

FORMULA 1: Italian marque is closing the gap with Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton will be taking the threat of Ferrari seriously in Austria – but insists he will let his Mercedes team sweat over the gap.

Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet in his Ferrari after second practice at the Red Bull Ring on Friday, with Hamilton down in fifth after running wide during his first run on fresh supersoft tyres.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate and main title rival, Nico Rosberg, had the beating of the Brit over both sessions – finishing fastest in the morning before being pipped by Vettel later in the day.

With the sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen a competitive third in both sessions there is a viable threat to Mercedes’ dominance, but Hamilton will not be worrying about it.

“We always take it very seriously,” he said when asked about the threat of Ferrari.

“The team are probably more focused on it than I am.

“Strategies are not my job, I just go and drive and drive the socks off the car.

“Today I was pushing and just learning along the way.”

He continued: “I don’t know how our pace is compared to others, but the Ferraris looked quite quick.

“The car has been great and it’s just that the track doesn’t have a lot of grip. We improved the car for sure. The tyres were pretty much the same.”

Rosberg was also impressed by the pace in the Ferrari but believes the short lap around the circuit in Spielberg has the effect of bunching up the field.

“On this track everybody’s always a bit closer and they seemed quick today,” he said.

“They (Ferrari) were good in qualifying and on the long run they were even closer, but in general everyone’s closer here.

“I locked up a bit in turn three and lost some time there.

“We’re always a bit worried about Ferrari as they’re our closest rival, and naturally they’re closer here because it’s a very short track.”

Despite setting the pace in free practice two, Vettel did not enjoy a completely positive day – he was last in the morning after losing drive and his afternoon running was cut short after gearbox issues.

Meanwhile, Paul Hembery insists Pirelli will do whatever it is asked to do after confirming the company has joined Michelin in pitching to be Formula One’s tyre suppliers from 2017 onwards.

Pirelli currently provide tyres after replacing Bridgestone in 2010, but with major rule changes set to revamp the sport in two years, Michelin is looking to get back into F1 for the first time in more than a decade.

The French firm has been very open about the changes it could implement to help make the spectacle more interesting, but Hembery defended Pirelli’s position and said it too would react to any alterations in the regulations. “We did tender. “There were two people that tendered – there are definitely only two bidders,” Pirelli’s motorsport director confirmed at the Austrian Grand Prix.

A change in tyre size could be part of the strategic changes and it is something Michelin appear keen on – but Hembery believes that is irrelevant as Pirelli work to the remit set out in the current regulations.

“At the moment the size of the tyre is set by the FIA together with the teams and the promoter.

“You can only supply what the rules say you can supply. “Our bid is to follow the rules.” The tyre contract for Formula One stipulates there would be one sole supplier to all of the teams and there is no real intention to revert back to the days of the “tyre wars” as the grid was split between Michelin and Bridgestone rubber.

Picture: PA. Lewis Hamilton is taking Ferrari seriously, but is leaving the sweating to his team.