Ferrari needs more time to be ready for 2016 F1 season - Vettel

The Scuderia has topped the timing screens on three of the five testing days so far, but has also suffered a number of small problems that have hampered its mileage.

During that period, Ferrari has clocked 425 laps but that is almost half of the 847 laps completed by Mercedes.

When asked if he felt Ferrari would be fully prepared when the season kicks off in Australia in two and a half weeks, Vettel said: "I hope in a couple of weeks, yes.

"We still have some time. We still have another two days here. Let's try to use them and go from there."

Kimi Raikkonen had a gearbox problem that limited his running on Tuesday but Vettel made good progress on Wednesday morning, logging 63 laps.

Vettel said he was "not concerned" following the reliability problems Raikkonen suffered.

"You don't want these things to happen," he said.

"If it happens here, it's not a problem. If it happens in a couple of weeks, it's a bit worse, but it's not an issue.

"In the tests, you take the time to look and it takes time.

"We'd have liked to run a bit more but this is what the test is for.

"In the end, we are pretty happy with where we are."