Hamilton: 2017 mule car tyre testing a "waste of my time"

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull provided modified 2015 cars designed to simulate the performance of this year's faster breed of F1 single-seaters to allow Pirelli to prepare its new, bigger tyres for 2017.

While Sebastian Vettel carried out much of Ferrari's testing, Hamilton pulled out of his only run for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi last year feeling unwell, having missed a previously scheduled test due to a sore foot.

When asked by Motorsport.com if Vettel's Australian GP victory, in a race where Mercedes struggled to get on top of the tyres, could have been down to the German doing more of the mule-car running, Hamilton dismissed the suggestion.

"I'm so glad I didn't do that testing, because the car is so different," said Hamilton ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

"I did a few laps in the Abu Dhabi test in the 2015 car and it was so much different to this car. It would have been a waste of my time. I'm glad I didn't do it. It made no difference.

"The fact is the [mule] car had so much less downforce and it was lighter than the car we have today, so it wouldn't have put the tyres in the same window.

"The stuff I would have learned then, I would have to undo it and learn again."

While Vettel said he could not be certain of the impact of carrying out the tests, he believes opportunities to drive outside of F1 weekends should be taken.

"I am happy to drive the car, there's always something to learn, so the days with Pirelli, they also helped me," said Vettel.

"The reason why I am happy to do it is because I love driving. When there is an opportunity to test, even though testing can be boring – you are driving.

"That's better than sitting on a bike to be fit to drive the car. Track time is limited. I cannot understand why you would reject it."

Hamilton added that Mercedes has learned from its problems in Australia, although he said it's not a straightforward situation to fix.

"We've taken a lot from the race so we have a better understanding of the tyres and why we were in the scenario we were in," he said.

"We're conscious of that scenario now. We don't have the answer for it because it's dependent on weather conditions, but we can be more reactive to it now."

Additional reporting by Ben Anderson and Jonathan Noble