Spanish GP: Mercedes F1 boss says Lewis Hamilton had 'messy' set-up

Hamilton was beaten to pole position for the first time in the 2015 F1 season when team-mate Nico Rosberg outpaced him by 0.267 seconds at Barcelona.

"Lewis got in a bit of a messy set-up situation or was unlucky with the track conditions and here we go, a couple of tenths," said Wolff.

"I think finding the right set-up this weekend was the important bit as the track changed massively within minutes.

"It's not completely clear to us why that was - gusts or temperatures - but you could see hitting the track in qualifying we had a mediocre car balance on the prime tyre.

"A couple of minutes later it took three or four laps to get the tyre working.

"Then we put the next set of primes on and we had a massive time improvement.

"So I guess it was sorting yourself and your set-up out and trying to extract the most from the conditions.

"In that final run Nico was able to nail it on the first set with a very good lap and Lewis suffered from the car balance."

Hamilton said he had been struggling with the balance all weekend and was even making tweaks between qualifying runs.

In contrast, the Briton said his team-mate was making very few changes - and that had made the difference.

"I've been chasing it but you move the balance forwards, you move the balance rearwards and it's like a see-saw," said the reigning world champion.

"You put a little bit more weight on one side and it keeps going to the other side and you're trying but you just can't get it. The wind doesn't really help.

"Nico has generally not made a lot of changes all weekend. He's kept a balance and he's not really had to move from there so he's been comfortable from the get go.

"Often most weekends that's how it starts off for me, but this weekend I'm just less comfortable with it.

"I'm hoping that tomorrow in the race it's not a bad thing, hopefully."