Reality bites for Lewis Hamilton he finishes 11th at practice ahead of Spanish Grand Prix

Hard facts stared Lewis Hamilton in the face. After lashing his Mercedes around the Barcelona circuit for two hours, he was only 11th.

So much for the upgrade to which he once said he was “counting down the days.” While hoping for improvement as the weekend progresses, he admitted: ‘Given the pace I had today, it will be a battle to qualify in the top 10’ for the Spanish Grand Prix.

In practice, the seven-time champion was more than six-tenths behind Max Verstappen, currently the fastest man in the world in the fastest car in the world.

Hamilton’s teammate George Russell was nearly half a second off the pace and was eighth on this familiar circuit of Circuit de Catalunya, which, unlike the winding streets of Monaco last week, served as a more representative testing ground.

Whatever progress Mercedes makes today or in the coming weeks, it is now clear that the new package does not represent a night and day revolution.

And all the teams around them introduce their own upgrades, making the Silver Arrows’ recovery task all the more difficult.

“It’s impressive to see the improvements everyone has made,” said Hamilton. “Look at the Alpines (Esteban Ocon fifth and Pierre Gasly 10th), and you can see that the Aston Martin (of Fernando Alonso) is right behind the Red Bull. We fight as hard as we can. It was a difficult day to get on top of the tires and the relegation. The car feels like… the car.”

A large crowd blocked the roads leading to the circuit, at least in part due to Alonso’s resurgence at age 41. Ferrari yesterday.

While nothing less than a space rocket can stop Verstappen, the only glimmer of hope for the local faithful was Alonso’s indication that he is best placed to strike if the Dutchman has an accident.

“Things can change quickly, so I’m not giving up the title until it’s impossible,” said Alonso, who hasn’t won a race since his 32nd win here 10 years ago and is 51 points off the top.

“We have a small chance and we have to be realistic about that. Max shows excellent performance and has no weak points. But we need to challenge him more to see if he makes mistakes, because life is too easy for Max right now.

“We have a new generation of younger fans who haven’t seen me step on stage before. They probably thought you lose performance and ability with age and I was just a driver of the past.

“But in the end they see that the car – as we often repeat, but sometimes you have to prove it again – is the most important thing in Formula 1, and suddenly they see that you are a good driver.

My popularity is high. We have to ride this wave.’

TV: Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying, 3pm, LIVE on Sky Sports F1 from 2.15pm.