Red Bull's Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc in second practice at the season opener.
Mercedes driver George Russell was fourth, but he was only half a second off the pace.
Hamilton's Mercedes was ninth fastest.
Verstappen was quicker than Leclerc as Red Bull and Ferrari seemed to establish themselves as the teams to beat.
Fernando Alonso was fifth for Alpine, but nearly a second off the pace, and ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Mick Schumacher, Hamilton and the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
Daniel Ricciardo was down in 18th place after suffering from a water leak.
Verstappen and Leclerc lapping at a similar pace, albeit on a small sample of laps, when the teams practiced race fuel loads later in the session.
The evidence of the day seemed to confirm that Mercedes are struggling for pace at the start of this season, in which Formula 1 has introduced the biggest regulation change for 40 years in an attempt to close up the field and make the racing more competitive.
The car was not comfortable to drive. The drivers were suffering fromporpoising on the straight - the consequence of an aerodynamic phenomenon to which these cars are prone in which the downforce level fluctuates at high speed, causing the car to bounce.
Hamilton had problems with his brakes and the overtaking aid.
The Mercedes have the potential to be third fastest team but they look to be a significant margin behind Red Bull and Ferrari, although a definitive picture will not be seen until after qualification on Saturday.
Russell said that they were not where they wanted to be. The pace is not there at the moment but we have made some progress.
We are a long way off the pace of Red Bull and even Alpha Tauri and Alfa Romeo, who seem to be on our pace or even quicker.
It appears as if it will be a longer term fix.
The balance and bouncing is what differentiates us from others. We are a long way off. People assumed we were bluffing. It is what it is. We will work as hard as we can to get through it.
I am realistic. We aren't going to be in the race for a win. The Red Bulls are a long way away. It is in the vicinity of 0.8-0.9 seconds ahead of us and 0.6 seconds ahead of Ferrari. Whoever is behind them, we are fighting with them.
The analysis of the practice data shows that the Red Bull is the fastest car, with the Ferrari close behind, while Mercedes will be battling with the group some margin behind that.
Leclerc did a one-lap race simulation run that was almost a match for Verstappen, but Red Bull looked very strong on race pace.
Verstappen said the car felt good.
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