The Ferrari team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, has said the team have no plans currently to approach Lewis Hamilton to drive for them amid speculation he could replace Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton is yet to sign a new deal with Mercedes.

Instead, Arrivabene has challenged Raikkonen to raise his game in the wake of an indifferent start to the Formula One season in which he has struggled to replicate his team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s pace. In Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Raikkonen did exactly that, finishing on the podium for the first time in 26 grands prix as runner-up to Hamilton.

The performance resulted in Arrivabene being quizzed over Raikkonen’s chances of staying, given he has an option on his deal for next year, but also whether Ferrari were interested in Hamilton.

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“Does Lewis Hamilton call you? Because he never calls me,” said Arrivabene. “Every driver here in the paddock wants to drive for Ferrari, this is normal, even guys that were quite a lot of the time world champion.

“I’m happy with the drivers we have, but this does not mean I am going to sign with Kimi tomorrow. We are very clear, I repeat again: I said to Kimi, ‘Look, it depends on your performance’ and he has demonstrated he’s a great driver. So if you ask me now ‘Does he deserve to renew the option?’ I am going to say yes. But if I am going to say yes, I don’t want the driver to fall asleep. I want to keep him awake.

“Kimi is at his best when he is in a bit in trouble. This is a psychological approach. So the [contract] at the moment is [blank]. Sometimes I have to take the pen, then take it back.”

Although Raikkonen managed to split the Mercedes duo Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, with Vettel down in fifth, it was not the result that the practice sessions had suggested might happen as Ferrari had appeared stronger on long-run pace than Mercedes. Arrivabene knows Ferrari still have plenty of work to do if they are to keep pace with Mercedes on a regular basis.

“We put together an aggressive strategy, which is exactly what we discussed,” added Arrivabene. “We recognise the gap we have to Mercedes, so the only way is to be aggressive, even though at this stage you can make a mistake if you are aggressive. If one day we are able to catch them, of course the strategy must be put together in a way that is a bit different.”