Lewis Hamilton has warned Mercedes against complacency heading in to qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg was fastest in both Friday practice sessions ahead of Hamilton, with the German admitting he can’t see a challenger for victory other than his team-mate this weekend. Despite Mercedes’ advantage, Hamilton himself is not allowing himself to be overly confident of an easy weekend.

Asked if Friday practice had confirmed the team’s testing pace, Hamilton replied: “I think today, yes.

“The information we have shows pretty good pace, but there are still some quick cars out there and we can’t go into tomorrow’s session not thinking that those are going to be quick.”

And Hamilton says he was pleased with how smoothly Friday’s running went for the team as he focuses on fine-tuning the car ahead of Saturday.

“Mercedes has done an amazing job and we are here fighting for a race that we have the potential of winning. I’ve still got work to do with the set-up but that’s about it.”

Click here for Friday's gallery from the Australian Grand Prix

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

‘That was on me’ – Perez owns up to Shanghai tangle with Bottas

Last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix was barely a few corners old before the black-and-white Cadillacs…

2 hours ago

Leclerc defies peers, defends F1 new era: ‘It doesn’t feel artificial’

The 2026 Formula 1 season has touched down with the subtlety of a localized earthquake,…

4 hours ago

Norris: McLaren ‘not at level we need’ but confident of turnaround

Lando Norris was denied the chance to race in Shanghai, but the reigning world champion…

5 hours ago

A picture-perfect St. Patrick's Day!

Bring out your green, for it's St. Patrick's Day, which is the perfect excuse for…

7 hours ago

Wolff's Mercedes heritage flight for past and present stars

Once a Mercedes driver, always a Mercedes driver – and apparently always welcome aboard Toto…

8 hours ago

Very happy Gasly says Alpine now ‘in a completely different league’

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly walked away from last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix with a smile –…

8 hours ago