Lewis Hamilton took his first win for Ferrari yesterday at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix while championship leader Kimi Antonelli suffered a retirement late in the race with engine failure, gifting George Russell second place. And with Lando Norris finishing third ahead of Max Verstappen it made the first all-British podium since 1968.
It was a superb drive from a resurgent Hamilton, making him the oldest Formula One race winner at 41 since Jack Brabham in 1970. It has been a long time coming as Hamilton has not stood on the top of the podium for the last 40 races. It was, however, a record-extending 106th F1 victory for the seven times World Champion and makes him the 41st driver to win a Grand Prix for the Maranello marque.
It was also Ferrari’s first win since Carlos Sainz’s victory in Mexico City back in 2024 and Ferrari’s sixth podium finish in seven races this season, demonstrating the team’s progress and value of the work that has been carried out both at the track and in Maranello, where aerodynamic upgrades have contributed to the weekend’s success.
Ferrari’s three-stop strategy paid off with a perfectly timed stop with the virtual safety car, giving Hamilton his first win since the Belgian Grand Prix in 2024. It was, however, a disappointing day for Charles Leclerc who unfortunately, with just four laps remaining, was forced to retire with a hydraulic issue.
In winning the race at Barcelona, Hamilton also broke Antonelli’s five-race winning streak and with his second place finish in Monaco last weekend he has cut the young Italian’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship down from 66 points to 41.
Lewis Hamilton summed up the race by saying:
“This is an incredibly special moment. Winning my first race with Ferrari is something I’ve dreamt about since I was a child, and to finally achieve it feels incredible. There were moments last year when this moment felt almost impossible, but I’m so grateful to Fred for believing in me and everyone there for making me feel so at home. We’ve been working so hard all year and so many things have changed over the past months, and today is the result of all that effort.
“I’m so proud of everyone, both here at the track and back in Maranello. The upgrades we brought this weekend performed exactly as we hoped, the car felt great, and the team executed everything perfectly. The pitstops were fantastic and every detail was handled brilliantly.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to experience many special moments in my career, but this one is different. Ferrari has the greatest fans in the world and seeing their passion, their energy and their support makes this victory even more meaningful. This is a day I’ll never forget, and I hope it’s the first of many wins that we can celebrate together.”
Team Principal, Fred Vasseur added:
“This is a very good day for the whole team, for Lewis and for all the guys at the factory who are pushing flat-out all the time. This result is the best way to thank them. The past year and a half has been quite difficult, with plenty of ups and downs, so to win today is a huge push for us. It is a strong start to the European part of the season. Before this, we had two consecutive podium finishes in Canada and Monaco and now we can add the win, having had a strong enough pace to fight for pole yesterday.
“From lap 1, we knew tyre management would be the key and in that respect Lewis did a fantastic job all race long. He was in control of the situation, pushing when we asked him to. Our strategy was aggressive but that is what you can afford to do when you have the pace for the win. Charles was unlucky as he had to retire a few laps from the end but I’m sure he will be fighting for victories together with Lewis in the coming races.
“We start over again in Austria in a fortnight’s time, approaching the weekend in the same way we did here, keeping in mind that we were not nowhere two weeks ago and we are not world champions today.”
The teams now head to Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix on 28th June.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is a UK-based motoring and travel journalist and editor, a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari HP
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