Lewis Hamilton is in no rush to commit himself to McLaren despite this year witnessing his two main rivals pledge their long-term futures to their teams.

In signing new contracts with Ferrari and Red Bull respectively, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have cemented their number one status.

Two months ago Vettel committed himself to Red Bull through to the end of 2014, while on Thursday Alonso announced an extension to his agreement with Ferrari that ties him up until 2016.

It would appear the options for Hamilton, who has another year on his contract with McLaren after this season, are narrowing and the pressure is on to put pen to paper on a new deal.

But Hamilton said: "My contract is still to the end of next year, so I'm sitting pretty sweet. I'm not feeling any panic or feel there's a rush to get something signed because I am here.

"Of course, it's going to be good at some stage to discuss things and see what my options are."

The belief is Hamilton would be stepping into the lion's den if he were to leave McLaren, the team that has nurtured him since he was 13.

To join Red Bull or Ferrari, where Vettel and Alonso rule the roost, would almost certainly prove problematic for Hamilton, although he is not without belief in his own talent.

"I'm not really bothered whether they've signed a number one seat because at the end of the day it is whoever is quickest within that team," added Hamilton.

"They could be signed as the number one, but if their team-mate goes on to do a better job then they could become the number one, so that doesn't worry me at all."

Being on an equal footing at McLaren with Jenson Button guarantees Hamilton a comfortable time as there is no inner-team tension that can often prove tiring.

For now, the job of the British duo is to close the gap on rampant championship leader Sebastian Vettel who holds a commanding 34-point lead over Hamilton at the top of the standings.

With the McLaren for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix boasting a raft of updates designed to close the gap, there were signs a challenge could be on the cards.

Hamilton finished 0.039secs adrift of Red Bull's Mark Webber, with Vettel three-tenths of a second behind the Briton, while Jenson Button was 0.7secs off the Australian's pace.

Hamilton, though, was not too optimistic as he said: "We're just as competitive as we have been in the past, but it doesn't mean we're closer. We'll see tomorrow.

"We have made some small steps forward, improved some areas like the front wing which appears to be better, but I'm pretty sure they still have the fastest car."

Pirelli's new super-hard tyre was the main cause of Hamilton's ire after practice, slating the rubber as "a disaster", a point Button agreed with.

The 31-year-old was far from happy with how the sessions unfolded, even though he finished fourth quickest.

"The car is pretty unpredictable at the rear, which is not something I like, so something I've got to work on,'' said Button.

"If I look at what Lewis is doing, I just don't have the balance. I'm a long way off at the moment.

"There is more pace in the car. We've just got to unleash it.

"But as always, I'm sure tomorrow Red Bull will show their true pace.

"I'm guessing they're going to have half a second on everyone, and hopefully we'll try and fight it out in the race."

As the man who won this race last year from pole, Webber was more than happy with how his start to the weekend unfolded.

"The car ran well, and although we've still got some work to do, it was one of our better Fridays," said Webber.

"It's always been a reasonable track for me, with a good result last year, so I hope to keep that trend going this weekend."