Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits Lewis Hamilton was compromised by a battery issue in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The world champion would finish 0.6s behind teammate and polesitter Valtteri Bottas after a poor first run in the top 10 shootout, though will still line-up second for the race.
While a scruffy lap didn't help, the Mercedes boss revealed Hamilton's preparation had not been ideal.
"It was a bit of an unfortunate session for Lewis because we couldn't charge the battery properly because he pitted in Q2 and therefore his first run in Q3 was a bit compromised with the traffic," he told Sky Sports.
"So it started on the wrong foot, but Valtteri's in good form and I guess deserves to be on pole."
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Any thoughts of trying to recover with a second lap were then banished as the track became slower meaning no-one improved their time.
"It could have either been track temperature or a lot of dirt. You can see that in one of the corners there was massive gravel and I think you saw that the last sector was really down for everybody," Wolff noted.
Still, Mercedes continue to dominate at the front of the field and that means Hamilton and Bottas will likely go wheel-to-wheel through the tricky opening sequence of corners in Barcelona.
Given the slight edge beginning to develop between his two drivers, Wolff acknowledges the memories of 2016, when Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided at Turn 4, have crept back in.
"I think a bit nervous is probably the right state of mind," he said of the start. "They know that it's important to be ahead tomorrow.
"Barcelona is a track where it's difficult to overtake, so I hope we won't be coming back to 2016.
"But these guys are in a totally different place with each other so I'm confident. We might have a little chat about that but they know exactly [what is expected]."
