Ferrari is bluffing and hiding its true pace, claims Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says that the Ferrari team is hiding its true pace after Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time in Barcelona on Thursday.

Vettel seemed to ease off in the final sector as he crossed the line on several of his hot laps on Thursday, leading observers to assume that there is more to come.

“I think Ferrari are bluffing and that they are a lot quicker than they are showing,” said Hamilton. “They're very close to us. It's difficult right now to say exactly who is quicker. But they are very close, if not faster. Whatever the case, I can't wait to go out and compete. Just a couple more weeks to go.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton professed himself happy with the progress of Mercedes, despite his best lap being some 0.3s shy of Vettel’s this morning. He then handed the car to teammate Valtteri Bottas.

“It was good to get some laps in this morning with slightly lower fuel. We worked on balance and made quite a few changes. I learned a lot about the car before handing over to Valtteri. We were trying to simulate something a bit more like qualifying and the car felt good on lower fuel. It's great to feel it come together.”

When is the next race?