Barcelona last weekend wasn't packed the way it used to be in those far-off times when Fernando Alonso had a competitive car, but still the crowd was a healthy one, doubtless padded by the local hero's showing in qualifying, when he produced the lap of the year so far, setting seventh best time - behind only Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - in a McLaren-Honda slowest of all through the speed trap.

When one considers that Alonso had missed FP1 in its entirety, and much of FP2, this was an amazing performance, but if he was clearly elated on Saturday afternoon, he was under no illusions about race day: "If I can make up some places at the start, it could be fun - but if I lose some, it will be a long afternoon."

It turned out to be the latter. At the first corner Valtteri Bottas nudged Kimi Raikkonen into Max Verstappen, and as Raikkonen and Verstappen, their cars damaged, came back on the circuit, Felipe Massa was obliged to swerve right, which in turn put Alonso briefly off the road.