(CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton defied the conditions to record the fastest lap on the final day of Formula One testing at Barcelona Friday -- but the Briton refused to entertain any title talk.
Hamilton, who quit McLaren to join Mercedes at the end of last season, beat former teammate Jenson Button into second place with Torro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne in third.
Hamilton clocked a time of 1 minute 23.282 seconds, despite the constant rain and adverse weather at the Spanish circuit.
Vettel: Red Bull better than last year
But the 2008 world champion insists his team is not ready to compete with the likes of Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso when the new season starts in Melbourne on March 17.
Pastor Maldonado took the new Williams for a spin at Barcelona on February 19 following the launch at Circuit de Catalunya.
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Sebastian Vettel celebrates with his team and admirers after a pulsating race at Interlagos in Brazil. But where does the Red Bull driver rank in the pantheon of F1's virtuosos?
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Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were long-time rivals before they became teammates at McLaren.
United in rivalry: Prost and Senna
"I think people are talking us up at the moment," Hamilton told reporters.
"Vettel, and maybe Fernando, were saying I'm maybe going to be competing for the world championship, but I really don't see that happening at the moment.
"Of course that's our goal, but you have to remember the car was over a second off, sometimes two seconds off, last year and we've not caught up a second.
"Other teams will also have put a second on over the winter, so we've not gained three seconds, that's a fact.
"Hopefully by the end of the year, that's our goal, but definitely not at the beginning."
Alonso demands Ferrari improvement
Elsewhere, McLaren's Button recorded the day's second fastest time, coming home in 1 minute 23.633 seconds with Vergne recording a time of 1 minute 24.071 seconds.
The best time of the week belonged to Hamilton's replacement at McLaren, Mexico's Sergio Perez, who completed his fastest lap in 1 minute 21.848 seconds.
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The new Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB9 was launched at the Austrian-owned Formula One team's English headquarters in Milton Keynes on February 3.
Mark Webber, left, and triple world champion Sebastian Vettel pose with the Red Bull they will be driving this year.
Title rivals Ferrari launched the new F138 which they hope will power Fernando Alonso to glory in 2013.
British team McLaren unveiled its car on January 31. New driver Sergio Perez (right) poses with 2009 world champion Jenson Button and the new MP4-28.
Former McLaren star Lewis Hamilton, left, and new teammate Nico Rosberg pose with the new Mercedes W04 on February 4.
Sauber's new C32 was launched in Switzerland on February 2. It will be driven by Perez's replacement Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Hulkenberg, who left Force India in 2012.
Force India's Paul Di Resta with the new VJM06 which was launched on February 1 at Silverstone. His new teammate had yet to be named.
Charles Pic and Dutch rookie Giedo van der Garde launched Caterham's new CT03 car on the first day of preseason testing at Circuito de Jerez on February 5.
Romain Grosjean was third-fastest on the opening day in Jerez for Lotus, which was the first team to launch its new car -- the E21 -- on January 28.
On Sunday, Vettel fought off feisty toreador Fernando Alonso to capture the drivers' title in a dizzying denouement and join an elite band of Formula One world champions.
It is mark of Vettel's greatness that he had come to from behind at Interlagos after a nightmare start on the opening lap when he was hit on the fourth turn and suffered damage to his car. It left Vettel at the back of the grid but by the 24th lap the Red Bull racer had clawed his way back to fifth place.
"Even if he appears to have a car that makes it possible for him, nevertheless he has to do it," said seven-time world champon Michael Schumahcer of Vettel's achievements.
"He's going for it 200% and it's a very tough job," added Schumacher of Vettel's talent. "He managed to pull it out and that is the extra effort that comes from him and to do this so consistently is very special."
The 2012 season demonstrated that if you want to get ahead in F1 make sure you have a good engineer in your team. Arguably there is no better engineer in the sport than Adiran Newey.
"Schumacher had five consecutive titles but that was in a period when Ferrari had influence on tyre development," said former McLaren GP winner John Watson.
"The interesting part is that this championship has been so hard-fought and it didn't really come together until the last races,"said 1978 champion Mario Andretti. "This season has been one of the best in memory. Vettel is one of the rare talents that don't come along very often."
"Vettel is making the most of the best design in F1," added Andretti.who is one of only two American drivers to have won the Formula One title. Here Andretti (R) is seen talking to Stirling Moss, during the championship winning season in 1978.
When Schumacher won his first world title with Benetton in 1994 it was also one of F1's darkest periods. The German won the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 where both Simtek racer Roland Ratzenberger and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna lost their lives. 
Vettel celebrates with Formule One supremo Bernie Ecclestone following his title win in Brazil.
Vettel is now chasing after Frenchman Alain Prost , who won four drivers' titles.
"Fangio is my hero," said former McLaren GP winner Watson. "Why I respect him is that he won five world championships in an era when motor racing was fundamentally a slaughter."
Vettel aims to join Prost next year -- then five-time winner Fangio and Schumacher's magnificent seven are all that are ahead of him in his quest for total greatness.
Prost and Senna (No.1) clash at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in 1989. Prost clinched the title after the Brazilian was controversially disqualified after winning the race.
As they both battled for world titles at McLaren, Prost and Senna's relationship came under great strain.
Stand off: Senna and Prost walk away after the early crash at Suzuka in the final race of the 1990 season which left the Brazilian as world champion.
Prost earned the nickname 'The Professor' for his thoughtful and studied approach to Formula One racing.
Prost competing in wet conditions at the Monaco Grand Prix which he won four times during his glittering career.
Prost and Senna formed a united team in 1988 as the latter won the championship for McLaren.
The medical team at Imola tend to the stricken Senna after his fateful crash in the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
Prost joined a pantheon of Formula One greats at Senna's funeral in Sao Paulo in 1994.
In the latter part of career Prost had to battle with the youthful exuberance of future seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
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