Hamilton warns Mercedes against going 'over the edge' to catch Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton believes that defending world champions Mercedes have all the experience and talent to make up their speed deficit to Ferrari ahead of the 2019 Formula 1 season, but has warned the team against going "over the edge" to try and bridge the gap.

At pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, Ferrari were the most impressive team with Sebastian Vettel recording the fastest time of any driver.

Hamilton has previously admitted that the Scuderia could be as much as half-a-second faster than Mercedes, but he knows the current champions can regain the time if they don't become overzealous in their attempts to catch up.

"It makes it harder for sure," Hamilton admitted, with regards to Ferrari's pace.

"I think already last year we as a team were behind on performance so we had to overachieve on delivery, and now we have to reach even further, it means we have to squeeze our performance even more.

"But we also have to be careful in that scenario because it can also push you over the edge and you can have faults.

"We've got the best team around us. We have experience, it's no coincidence that we are world champions so we have to be diligent and stay balanced.

"But as a driver for sure I have to figure out how can I pull more out, which I don't have the current answer for."

Mercedes have won five constructor's championships in a row, and Hamilton has welcomed the challenge from their rivals to try and dethrone them.

"We don't mind the challenge," he assured.

"We will fight. It just means we have to work harder. But I am really really proud of what our team has done to get us here today. It is not that I am worried or disappointed.

"We are just incredibly encouraged and enthused that we are working as hard as we are, we have a hill to climb but we know how to do it."

MORE: Abiteboul laments the emergence of 'B Teams'
MORE: Under-fire Lowe departs struggling Williams team