Lewis Hamilton has revealed he was in a “low place” during his first season at Ferrari before he “rebuilt” himself to go on and take his first Grand Prix victory in red on Sunday.
Hamilton joined Ferrari at the start of 2025 in one of the biggest transfers in Formula 1 history but endured a disappointing campaign, labelling himself as “useless” at one point, as he failed to finish on the podium.
The 41-year-old was immediately more competitive this season with his first Ferrari podium in China, then back-to-back second places in Montreal and Monaco, so he was in form heading into the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
A combination of aggressive strategy calls from Ferrari and masterful tyre management from Hamilton led him to take a “special” win in Barcelona.
“I couldn’t have done this without this amazing team and the support I’ve had from them for the last year, even more so coming into this year after such a difficult year,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“Every day I’ve been having this dream since I was a kid. In 1996, Michael [Schumacher] won here for Ferrari and I remember watching the red car and always wondering what it would be like to be winning in that car and what it would be like to stand on that podium and be the one that’s kind of given the team the moment to sing the national anthem. There’s nothing like it, it’s absolutely incredible.”
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Highlights from the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
Hamilton came under scrutiny as recently as May after two difficult rounds in Japan and Miami where he was a long way off the pace compared to Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The seven-time world champion stated last month that “a lot of people are trying to retire me”, revealing he had a Ferrari contract until at least the end of 2027.
“I came from really quite a low place to get back here, and I think it’s just really about never giving up, never second guessing yourself, never giving up on yourself and just keep on trying,” he continued.
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Lewis Hamilton watches back his first Ferrari win at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP in the cool down room alongside George Russell and Lando Norris
“I think for the people that say the negative stuff, I often use that as fuel. I think it’s easy to be negative about people. I think it is worse when it’s a driver that knows how hard it is in this field to do a job and they don’t even have the success that I have and they talk negatively.
“It was really the fans that rescued me. Last year, several of the fans were shouting to me ‘don’t forget who you are’ and that really resonated with me.
“I had to question ‘how do I find myself again and how do I find my centre? How do I find the courage and the strength to keep going, to keep building, to keep trying?”
Hamilton: I allowed things to get to me
Hamilton’s difficult 2025 came on the back of a largely challenging final season at Mercedes where he was outperformed by then team-mate George Russell.
The previous ground effect generation F1 cars did not suit Hamilton’s aggressive driving style and he questioned if “when you get to a certain point, you lose it”.
“I’m only human. There’s moments where I see the stuff and for sure there’s moments where I allowed it to get to me and penetrate deeply. But, then I went through a sequence of unplugging from that matrix,” he said.
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Lando Norris says it was special to see Lewis Hamilton win for Ferrari as a fan, while also reflecting on a cool all-British podium with Hamilton and George Russell
“I spent lots of time with family, lots of time with friends, real people that know me, that have never doubted me, have stuck to and by me my whole life.
“Then I just went on the mission from Christmas Day. The training that I put in was harder than I’ve ever experienced, to keep myself in good shape, because I think at the beginning of last year I got injured here [in Barcelona], actually, and carried that for months.
“I know [the thing] is to never second-guess yourself, never doubt yourself. You’ve got to continue to believe in yourself at the core. Those are the things that I’ve managed to reimplement into my mentality.
“I’ve rebuilt my mind to this point, to get myself back to where I was. And it’s a great feeling to stand on that podium.”
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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
Ferrari brought a major upgrade package to Barcelona, including a new floor and front wing, which did not appear to give them immediate performance during practice.
But Hamilton and Leclerc suddenly found pace in qualifying and demonstrated strong race pace on Sunday too as Ferrari matched, or even bettered, Mercedes in raw speed for the first time this season.
Hamilton believes his contributions to this year’s car and the team’s persistence to outdevelop their rivals is paying off.
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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win in red at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
“It’s so early in the season to get to this point. These guys [Ferrari] have really listened and really worked hard to add performance and be innovative. This year is all about innovation,” he said.
“We came out with the bit on the rear exhaust. We came out with, the rear wing, the Macarena. This is what I was asking for last year.
“This team has to be the leaders in that, and they’ve shown that they can and they will. And we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. By no means is this something that’s just going to happen all the time. We’ve got a heavy, heavy, steep mountain to climb up ahead of us to try to do this as Mercedes has all year so far.”
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
