Lewis Hamilton well off the pace in practice as he gears up for 300th Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton faces a tall order to crown his 300th Grand Prix with victory after he finished a distant fifth in practice.

The 37-year-old will bring up his triple ton at Sunday’s French Grand Prix, becoming only the sixth Formula One driver to reach the landmark figure.

Hamilton will join Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button in F1’s exclusive club.

But the seven-time world champion, who has more wins, pole positions and podiums than any driver in the sport’s history, ended practice one second off the pace.

Carlos Sainz, who is likely to start Sunday’s race from the back following engine penalties, led team-mate Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two. Championship leader Max Verstappen finished third.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team harboured high hopes for the 12th round of the campaign here in the scorching south of France heat.

A new floor, coupled with the smooth Circuit Paul Ricard asphalt, even led some within Mercedes to believe Hamilton could end both his, and the team’s, barren run by securing his 104th win.

And, although practice times have to be treated with caution as teams trial different set-ups, Mercedes look set to play third-fiddle to both Ferrari and Red Bull.

George Russell finished one place higher than Hamilton but was still three quarters of a second back.

“It is not where we want to be,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “We are trying lots of parts, but we are just lacking the pace right now.

“It is early days, but the performance so far has been a bit underwhelming.”

Alarmingly for Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso, Barrichello, Schumacher and Button all failed to enter the winner’s circle after surpassing 300 appearances.

Hamilton himself has never