Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes driver pulls out of Pirelli tyre test through illness

Lewis Hamilton has pulled out of a test aimed at finalising tyres for next season because he was feeling unwell.

Hamilton, who lost the world title to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, was scheduled to drive all day at the Yas Marina circuit.

But after a few laps the Briton felt ill, and Pascal Wehrlein took over.

Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari are conducting the test, with modified 2015 cars to simulate the increased downforce of the 2017 new rules.

F1 has introduced a new set of technical regulations aimed at making the cars up to five seconds a lap quicker next year.

The redesigned cars will produce more downforce, while Pirelli has been tasked with making wider tyres on which drivers can push hard throughout a race, unlike the fragile rubber of the past six years.

The test runs until the evening and early lap times were some three seconds slower than this set in qualifying at last weekend's grand prix.

But senior insiders have cautioned against reading too much into individual lap times because the cars are heavy and the engines are old and being run in a detuned state to ensure they last.