Lewis Hamilton says no noticeable difference in feeling with new Kevlar-belted Pirellis

Lewis Hamilton says he didn't notice any difference with the handling or performance of his Mercedes in the wake of the emergency tyre changes introduced by Pirelli for this weekend's German GP.

Should Hamilton execute a Saturday turnaround it would be the second time inside two weeks that he has overcome Friday set-up difficulties, the 28-year-old claiming a brilliant pole at Silverstone last Saturday just 24 hours after claiming he was "struggling" with his car. The battle for pole looks set to be a straight Mercedes v Red Bull duel once more and Hamilton admitted their rivals' strong P2 pace, particularly on heavy fuel, was to be expected. "They look like they're quite quick, especially on the long runs as well, which is no surprise," he added to Sky Sports F1. "They're leading both Championships, they're the quickest team at the moment, so we've got some work to do to catch up." Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg was second fastest in both Friday sessions and agreed that the tyre revisions hadn't appeared to affect Mercedes' recent performance levels. "A good day in general. Interesting because the tyres are different and we have to adapt [with] some set-up changes and things like that," the Silverstone winner said. "It's an opportunity also for us if we can understand them quicker than others, so take another step compared to everybody else. "It looks like on one lap we're still quick and also the longer runs a similar situation, but it might still shuffle things around a little bit - and it's enough. A few tenths here and there and you might see a different grid and a different race result again."