Mercedes had to overcome "obstacles" in F1 test - Hamilton

Although the seven-time world champion topped the times on the final day of running, the three days of action have not been completely smooth for his Brackley-based team.

In particular, Mercedes has battled the porpoising phenomena that most teams have faced to a greater or lesser degree, and it still faces some work in trying to find a proper solution for the next test in Bahrain.

Amid a consensus that Ferrari and McLaren have had the most positive of week of testing, Hamilton suggests that Mercedes has not had a perfect time.

However, he says the reliability of the car has been good and he says Mercedes is steadily working through the work it needs to do.

"It's been an interesting few days," he said. "It's not been the easiest, or the most smooth running. We've definitely had some obstacles to overcome.

"But we've got through a lot and of course we'd always want more laps, but I'm happy with today. I think I almost got 100 laps in today. So for half a day of running, that's not too bad.

"[We are] a little bit behind on the last two days. The car is a lot different to previous years to drive, as are the tyres. But we're working our way through it."

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Hamilton said critical for Mercedes was taking on board the lessons of this week's test at the factory prior to hitting the ground running in Bahrain.

"The whole team have done an amazing job this week, the men and women back at the factory have done an amazing job," he said.

"So we just need to download all this data and get through it as much as we can next week, and just try to put one foot in front of the other."

With teams getting to grip with the new 2022 cars, and no one going for flat-out performance runs, Hamilton said it was pointless trying to work out who had the advantage right now.

"You never do on the first week. You never do," he said. "We have no idea where everyone is."