Hamilton says pace worse than expected

Hamilton finished in 13th position in this afternoon's practice session, and the Briton said that was the best he could have done with his car.

"That is our true pace, as you just saw," Hamilton told reporters after Friday practice. "It is going to be a tough one for sure."

The McLaren driver, who finished in fourth in the last race in Bahrain, said the Sakhir circuit's performance had been misleading, and reckons Barcelona is showing his car's real deficits.

Hamilton admitted his team's pace was worse than he had expected.

"That is what I said coming into the weekend and it is even worse than I expected," Hamilton said when asked if Bahrain had flattered his car.

The Briton said the modifications done to his car for the Spanish race had simply not worked, and claimed McLaren was not hiding anything in practice.

"I wish we were, but we are not. We are pushing but unfortunately we tried some upgrades and they are not working for me," he said.

"There has been no improvement to the car whatsoever."