The 41-year-old Lewis Hamilton won the Barcelona-Catalunya GP and secured his first victory with the team from Maranello.
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| Photo: Alastair Staley |
Hamilton laid the foundations for his maiden success with Ferrari in Saturday's qualifying, where he secured second place. Pole position was not far away, however, as it slipped through his fingers by just 0.064 seconds. The top spot was taken by George Russell.
It is well known that the Barcelona circuit is crucial when it comes to tyre management, which played a significant role throughout the race. Despite this, Hamilton decided to start on the softest tyre compound, along with Verstappen, who also started on the red-marked tyres. Lewis hoped this would help him get a better start than George, who opted for the medium compound for his opening stint.
That didn't happen. George retained the lead, while Lewis remained in second place. Russell then began to build a solid gap over Hamilton until lap 11, when Lewis headed to the pits for a new set of hard tyres as part of a three-stop strategy (soft–hard–medium–hard), compared to the two-stop strategy used by both Mercedes drivers (medium–hard–hard).
Russell reacted to Hamilton's pit stop and came into the pits one lap later. Lewis made his next stop on lap 27, switching to medium tyres. He rejoined behind Leclerc and Piastri, overtook Oscar immediately, and Charles then let him through so that Hamilton could enjoy clean air while chasing down the two Mercedes drivers.
Russell pitted on lap 36 and Kimi on lap 38, which promoted Lewis into the lead. Fortunately for him, Alonso was forced to retire due to battery issues, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. Hamilton immediately took advantage of the situation, made his final pit stop, and retained the race lead.
After the VSC period ended, Hamilton was flying. Knowing he had a genuine chance to win, he refused to let the opportunity slip away and steadily increased his advantage over Russell, lap after lap. Meanwhile, Kimi managed to overtake George, but only a few kilometres later he was forced to retire with technical issues, allowing Russell to reclaim second place, while Norris moved up to third.
After 66 laps in the Spanish heat, Hamilton crossed the chequered flag in first place to claim his maiden victory as a Ferrari driver. It marked his first win since the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix. The podium was a dream result for British motorsport, with Russell finishing second and Norris third — the first all-British podium since 1968.
“I started out a dream last year which seemed almost impossible during my time last year, but we never gave up hope and the team just continued to lift me up.
“We made so many changes and we made so many improvements, and on top of that I’ve got the greatest fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for. Thank you, thank you to everybody," Hamilton said.
“I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV, and as I’ve been racing here I’d always watch the screens and wonder what it would be like to win in that car, and it’s come.
“Everyone worked so hard for it, everyone truly deserves it, so I am forever grateful to them and this is just the first I hope of many. But great pit stops today, great strategy, the car felt fantastic, and forza Ferrari."
Max Verstappen finished in fourth place, continuing to struggle with the car this season, and Barcelona was no exception.
Oscar Piastri came home fifth, while Verstappen's teammate, Isack Hadjar, finished sixth. The second French driver on the grid, Pierre Gasly, was right behind him in seventh place.
The Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad finished eighth and ninth, while Franco Colapinto closed the top ten.
Formula 1 now heads from Catalunya to the Austrian Red Bull Ring, where the next race will take place.