Lewis Hamilton nursing Sochi wounds with two fastest times in Spanish Grand Prix practice

Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen struggled in their Ferraris

Hamilton said the wind made the driving conditions more difficult (Getty)

Two sessions, two fastest times. For Lewis Hamilton it felt like the old days here in Montmelo today, as he assuaged his Sochi wounds by leading both practices in his modified Mercedes.

Traditionally, this European season opener is where the teams bring the fruits of their behind-the-scenes development work arising since their cars were first introduced here for pre-season testing and then run in the opening races of the year.

Mercedes have reduced their car’s weight by around six kilos and honed its aerodynamics and suspension set-up, and Hamilton said he was happy with the way things went as he headed his Russian GP-winning team-mate Valtteri Bottas by a narrow margin on each occasion – 0.029s in the morning, 0.090s in the afternoon.

Arch-enemy Ferrari, who flew here in the tests in February and March, were nearly a second down in the morning, when points leader Sebastian Vettel had a gearbox problem, but within three-tenths in the afternoon when Kimi Raikkonen was advised to start babying his power unit after it gave off some warning signals. With Red Bull and Renault also closer than usual, there are signs that the big upgrades everyone has brought may be proving beneficial in closing up the field, but Hamilton was happy to be back on top even though the usual caveats apply on any Friday because nobody shows their full hand until Saturday.

“First practice was very, very good but in second practice the track changed and shifted quite a lot, so it was slippery and quite a lot slower for everyone - especially with the gusts of wind,” Hamilton said. “It was massively challenging but still fun nonetheless.

“The team have done an amazing job with the upgrades and the car is working just as we expected. It's been a much better start to the weekend for me than in Sochi, so I'm very happy. We've just got to keep our heads down and keep working, we want to be number one.”

Each time Bottas went to the fore in either session, Hamilton was able to get back ahead, albeit by those small margins, but Vettel admitted that he didn’t feel like he was in full control of his Ferrari in the afternoon and that he wasn’t happy after finishing only fourth each time out.

"I'm struggling a bit to find the rhythm, I'm struggling a bit with the conditions, probably more myself than the car,” he said. “I didn't get everything together, I wasn't too happy but I can feel the car is quick so that is good. I'm not worried, I'm just not happy with how the day went.

"I wasn't always feeling like I was captain on board. Sometimes somebody else was steering my ship and I hope tomorrow, whoever that was, will disappear."

Hamilton headed team-mate Valtteri Bottas on both occasions (Getty)

Though Pirelli have brought their three hardest tyre compounds to notoriously abrasive track, everyone has been experiencing the sort of tyre degradation that has been missing this year, which should make for a livelier race than the one F1 was able to generate last time out in Russia. But as Mercedes set the pace on the long ‘race’ runs as well, Vettel further admitted that Ferrari had struggled more than usual.

"Today was quite a shocker, if you look at the long runs," he said. "I had a very short glimpse and everybody was struggling with the conditions. I was on the medium [compound], it was quite slippery - very interesting. Other people suffered a lot with degradation on the soft. Generally, the tyres feel a bit hard - I don't know why. I think it's the myth of Barcelona, maybe Pirelli is a bit afraid.

Both Hamilton and Vettel are expecting the fight on Sunday to be between Mercedes and Ferrari, Red Bull’s apparent pace pick-up notwithstanding.

"I don't know what Mercedes is up to," Vettel said. "It looks like it will be between them and us. I don't know who brought the most updates, and I don't think it matters; what matters is who brought the best.”

When the gloves come off for FP3 and qualifying tomorrow, a more accurate picture will emerge of who has done the job of development as the season moves towards its next phase.