Lewis Hamilton well off the pace in practice for Bahrain Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton finished a distant ninth in practice for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix as world champion Max Verstappen took top spot.

Hamilton arrived for the opening round of the Formula One season fearing his Mercedes machine would not be a contender for victory.

And, while times in practice are treated with caution as teams trial different tyres, fuel loads and engine settings, Hamilton will be alarmed by his apparent lack of pace.

The Briton, seventh in the first action of the day, then finished an eye-watering 1.2 seconds behind Red Bull’s Verstappen – the man who denied him a record eighth title at last season’s contentious decider in Abu Dhabi – and six tenths adrift of his new Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

Ferrari followed up their encouraging pre-season form, with Charles Leclerc second and Carlos Sainz third in the other scarlet car. Russell finished fourth.

Ninety-six days on from the final race of last year’s gripping and controversial title duel, Hamilton was back on track for his 16th campaign on the grid.

The sport has undergone its biggest rule change in a generation, with the cars radically revised in a bid to provide closer racing.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team might have dominated in recent times, winning the past eight constructors’ championships, but there is a growing feeling they will not start the new campaign at the top of the tree.

The Silver Arrows have struggled with ‘porpoising’ – the phenomenon seen this year when the car violently bounces on its suspension at 200mph.

Early on in Friday’s second running under the lights, and amid a flurry of sparks, Hamilton said: “It’s still bouncing a lot.”

He later complained that there was something wrong with his front brakes.

For Verstappen, there were