That saw the two Ferraris head the Mercedes men and the two Red Bulls with Australian Daniel Ricciardo leading an impressive Max Verstappen in fifth and sixth places, an effort the Dutch teenager nearly reprised in the second session.
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Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have a second-place finish each and, like Hamilton, will be looking to turn their early-season problems around in Spain.
Nico Rosberg thinks he would be foolish to write off Lewis Hamilton and insists the world champion is as strong as he was in 2014 and 2015.
The second such issue led to cries of conspiracy from some fans, who felt Mercedes were deliberately hindering the triple World Champion.
The Briton heads into the weekend determined to try to start clawing back some of the 43-point deficit he has to Rosberg after a troubled start to the season. We’ll do the best we can and I know my guys will do an exceptional job.
“I honestly put myself aside from this because it’s not really my responsibility to fix the auto”, Gutierrez said. I am here to drive, to drive as fast as possible and it is what I really love doing.
“The lap times don’t tell the full story, but it’s clear we have plenty of work to do this evening to get the vehicle driving like I want it to”.
“Usually we are quite strong at doing that so even if today was not the flawless day, it should be better tomorrow”.
For Hamilton, who visited New York, Athens, Miami, Barbados and Monaco following the last race in Russian Federation, he is without a win since his dramatic triumph in October’s United States Grand Prix – the scene of his third championship – now 200 days ago. Teammate Carlos Sainz finished four spots ahead of him. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull – TAG Heuer 1:25.194 7.
“I know they are a top team and I have a better chance to reach the podium – and when I was there, I just couldn’t stop working – lots of effort in the simulator and time with the mechanics”. Verstappen was eight in the second session with Ricciardo sixth.
Hamilton said he was unhappy with the balance of his auto but he also seemed to be over-driving it – and was especially uncompetitive on the long run. “I was getting used to the vehicle still, but it was all going very positive”.
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Haas driver Romain Grosjean was 13th fastest but said his vehicle a “disaster” and “undriveable”.
