Lewis Hamilton claimed his first race victory for Ferrari after an aggressive strategy paid off at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix as championship leader Kimi Antonelli dramatically retired late on.
Hamilton drove superbly in a high tyre wear race to take his first Grand Prix victory since his last triumph for Mercedes in July 2024, with George Russell taking second from Lando Norris in the first all-British podium since 1968.
Mercedes had no answer to Hamilton as the Ferrari driver capitalised on the fortunate timing of a mid-race Virtual Safety Car and used his tyre prowess to become the seventh oldest race-winner in F1 history at 41 years old.
Smart decision making from Ferrari to effectively undercut Russell at the second round of pit stops, coupled with Hamilton’s driving, provided the opportunity to win and the seven-time world champion took it by running away in the last part of the Grand Prix on fresher tyres.
An emotional Hamilton said on the radio: “You’ve helped me achieve this dream and I can’t thank you enough. Thanks for everyone pushing so hard back at home.
“I’m so proud of you. To my family, I love you. To my fans, thank you for continuing to remind me who I am. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
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Lewis Hamilton watches back his first Ferrari Grand Prix win at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP in the cool down room alongside George Russell and Lando Norris
Hamilton’s 106th career F1 win means he’s 41 points behind Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship after the Mercedes driver retired with four laps remaining as his car shut down when running in second.
Antonelli had just overtaken team-mate Russell after a dicey battle but the latter closes his championship deficit to 50 points.
Norris, who, like Russell, has failed to score points at the last two Grands Prix, claimed his second podium of the season as McLaren had a more competitive showing than the last two rounds.
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Kimi Antonelli goes past Mercedes team-mate George Russell before retiring from race with engine failure
Charles Leclerc suffered a late steering issue when on course for a top five result as his disappointing run of form continued.
Max Verstappen finished 40 seconds behind Hamilton on his way to fourth with Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar in sixth, behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fifth.
Alpine enjoyed their third double points result of the season with Pierre Gasly in seventh and Franco Colapinto in eighth, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad also scored points for a second successive weekend in ninth and 10th.
How Hamilton and Ferrari beat Mercedes
Mercedes had won all six Grands Prix and were favourites to maintain their 100 per cent record on Sundays as high tyre wear was expected – an area which has not been an issue so far in 2026.
The start was rather tame as the top five of Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, Norris and Verstappen remained in their qualifying positions.
It looked like Russell may cruise away but Ferrari decided to go on the front foot by pitting Hamilton, who started on softs with the Mercedes on mediums, relatively early on Lap 12. This forced Russell and Antonelli to pit earlier than planned so they did lose track position.
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Watch as George Russell holds off Lewis Hamilton at the start of the Barcelona-Catalunya GP
With the front-runners on the hards, Ferrari went aggressive again by pitting Hamilton for a second time on Lap 28 and this time Mercedes were happy for Russell to be undercut by his former team-mate. This proved to be a crucial moment.
While Hamilton was flying on new medium tyres, Russell started to struggle with his tyres and came under threat from Antonelli, with Norris not too far behind.
Russell and Antonelli pitted on Lap 37 and 38 respectively to begin their second-half chase of Hamilton but, on Lap 41, Fernando Alonso stopped at the side of the track which caused a Virtual Safety Car.
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Lewis Hamilton takes the outright lead of the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, benefitting from a virtual safety car after Fernando Alonso retired
It could not have come at a better time for Hamilton as he was able to pit and come out in the lead as he lost less time on his rivals by pitting during a VSC compared to green flag conditions.
That meant he had track position and fresher hard tyres than the Mercedes for the remainder of the race, which allowed him to power away to one of his most famous victories in F1.
“A huge grazie to everyone here. My team here at Ferrari, everyone back at the factory. Fred [Vasseur] for believing in me and bringing me to this team,” said Hamilton.
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Lewis Hamilton celebrated his first Ferrari victory in style after winning the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, throwing his trophy into the air before the champagne spray began
“I started out a dream which seemed almost impossible during my time last year but we never gave up hope and the team continued to lift me up. We made so many changes and we made so many improvements.
“On top of that, I have got the greatest fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for and so thank you to everybody.”
He added: “I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV.
“And as I’ve been racing here [in F1], I’d always watched the screens and wondered what it would be like to win in that car – and it’s come.”
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Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli reflects on his Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, which saw him retire late on with an engine failure
Behind Hamilton, Russell started to lose time to Antonelli again and the Italian took advantage with a brave move down the inside into Turn One on his team-mate with five laps remaining.
But, Antonelli came to a halt just one lap later with another Mercedes suspected power unit problem in what could be a decisive moment in the title race on a day Hamilton reminded everyone why he’s still one of F1’s top drivers.
Formula 1’s European season continues with the Austrian Grand Prix on June 26-28, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
