There’s a fine line between success and disaster in Formula 1, and Lewis Hamilton just about skated it on the first lap at the Spanish Grand Prix.

A brief bit of contact with Lando Norris could so easily have ended his podium bid, just as a crash with Kevin Magnussen at this track last year potentially cost him a win.

Instead it was Norris who came off second best, and Hamilton went on to claim a hugely important second place for Mercedes as the team attempts to finally get going under these regulations.

But it was an opportunity lost for Norris to likewise provide his McLaren team with a morale boost, and former McLaren protégé Hamilton has offered a piece of advice to the 23-year-old in response.

Further down the grid, Fernando Alonso has been asked to explain his latest piece of seemingly out-of-character charity for teammate Lance Stroll on a rare weekend the Spaniard couldn’t land a podium finish.

And Mick Schumacher is back in action in an F1 car for a rare in-season test that could be crucial to his chances of making a racing return.

HAMILTON WANTS TO SEE MORE PATIENT NORRIS AFTER FIRST-LAP CRASH

Lewis Hamilton says a more circumspect first lap from Lando Norris could have avoided their first lap crash and seen the McLaren driver score points.

Norris qualified an excellent third on Saturday but threw it away just seconds into the race when he tapped Hamilton’s rear-left tyre and broke his front wing.

His had to pit for a new nose cone at the end of that lap, instantly taking him out of points contention.

Hamilton, who was lucky to escape without a puncture, went on to finish second.

“I think it was a shame for Lando because he did such an amazing job yesterday,” he said. “It’s great to see McLaren up there on the second row

“I think if he was just a little more patient today, he would have had probably a better result, but we live and we learn.”

But Norris denied impatience or too much aggression sparked the crash, protesting that the contact was unavoidable as the front three accordioned together.

“I think it was more just a racing incident,” he said. “I didn’t see at turn 1 that Max went off the track. He went a bit wide, so then he had to bounce over the kerb at turn 2

“Then everyone just checked up, and I was too close to Lewis to be able to react and brake.

“Just an unlucky moment.

“There was no gamble; they braked in turn 2. You don’t normally ever brake in turn 2.”

Norris finished the race a distant 17th, though he said McLaren’s lack of pace was likely to drop him from the 10 even without crash damage.

“[Qualifying] was special day,” he said. “Some good teams struggled a lot and some of the worse teams did a better job … and we just capitalised on that.

“We’ve been off the pace all season, struggling to finish in the points in half the races. Today was just that.

“There’s no point thinking at the minute that we’re going to finish in the points, because we’re just not good enough.”

ALONSO EXPLAINS ‘GREAT TEAMWORK’ AFTER REFUSING TO PASS STROLL

Fernando Alonso’s rebirth as a magnanimous and generous teammate continues apace after holding station behind a slower Lance Stroll in the final stages of his home Spanish Grand Prix.

Alonso had started eighth behind Stroll in fifth, but an offset strategy that saw him run deeper into the race before making his first pit stop brought him right to the stern of his teammate in the final stint.

But he told his team he wouldn’t attempt a pass in favour of bringing the car home safely.

Speaking to the F1 website after the race, Alonso said he didn’t think the risk of an intrateam crash was worth a possible two-point gain for his personal tally.

“I think I was a little bit faster, like one or two tenths,” he said. “I had newer tyres [with] 10 laps to go,” said Alonso. “But when you get close to another car, you have turbulent air.

“For [the team] it was the same, sixth and seventh, seventh and sixth, same points. Bringing the car home felt like the right choice.”

Alonso said his run through the gravel in qualifying, which broke his floor and handed his teammate a grid advantage in the first place, was also on his mind.

“I damaged one floor already, I didn’t want to damage another one today — and I didn’t want him to damage his floor either by defending,” he said.

Team boss Mike Krack heralded the camaraderie between his drivers but lamented that neither was able to make progress in the race due to the car’s problems on the soft tyre.

“Lance and Fernando pushed hard all afternoon, made some important overtakes and showed great teamwork,” he said.

“We should not be disappointed with this result — even though we did not quite have the pace to fight for the podium today.

“It was in the first stint on the softs that we did not quite have the performance to catch the cars ahead, and in the second and third stints we managed our pace and had a comfortable advantage over the teams behind us.”

MICK SCHUMACHER BACK IN THE CAR FOR CRUCIAL TEST

Mick Schumacher will undertake his first on-track duties for Mercedes in a current car this week when he completes a Pirelli tyre test in Spain.

Mercedes and Ferrari will be on track on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya evaluating prototype tyre compounds ahead of a proposed rule to ban tyre blankets in 2024.

Schumacher will be behind the wheel on Wednesday in what will be his first experience of the 2023-spec machine, which will be crucial to his ongoing duties as the team’s reserve driver.

“After the grand prix weekend Mick will also get his first real-world taste of the W14 on the second day of the Pirelli tyre test,” team principal Toto Wolff said. “He has done a great job with the team so far, working hard back in the simulator and giving valuable input trackside.

“We’re looking forward to him getting his first taste of on-track running this year, and sure it will help him in his role as reserve driver.”

The test is key to Pirelli’s plans to eliminate the reliance on tyre warmers from next season on sustainability grounds.

The anticipated rule change has proved controversial, with Lewis Hamilton describing it as “dangerous” after tests during the off-season.

This week’s Barcelona test is the penultimate Pirelli session before the rule must be finalised on 31 July. The final session will take place after the British Grand Prix next month, where Daniel Ricciardo will be in the cockpit for Red Bull Racing.