Lewis Hamilton re-announced himself to the Formula 1 world with a superb maiden win as a Ferrari driver in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion rolled back the years with a fine performance, with Ferrari executing a three-stop strategy to place him firmly in contention, cemented by a Virtual Safety Car that saw him leapfrog both Mercedes.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was set for second place after overtaking Russell towards the end, but an unexpected car issue saw him retire, handing Russell a reprieve in the World Championship standings.
Lando Norris benefitted and took third, completing what was the first all-British F1 podium in 58 years.
How the race unfolded
At the start, Russell got away cleanly, as did Hamilton, but this time, the Mercedes has enough grunt from nought to lead away into Turn 1.
Antonelli retained third, but came under pressure from Norris, with Verstappen looking to join in on the action. Hadjar had a woeful start, dropping way down the order, ending Lap 1 in 14th place, narrowly being avoided by Leclerc, who darted to the left as the Red Bull tumbled down the pack.
By Lap 3, Russell was 1.4s ahead of Hamilton, who made the gamble to start the race on Softs, with Antonelli a further 1.2s further back in third.
Hulkenberg and Lindblad, running in ninth and 10th respectively, were under investigation for gaining advantages off the track, as Hadjar began to mount a fightback.
After sweeping around the outside of Pierre Gasly at Turn 3, he followed it up a lap later on the sister Alpine of Franco Colapinto, similarly taking a wide line on the Argentinian at Turn 4 for 11th.
Leclerc and Piastri were now engaged in a battle for sixth place, as Hadjar now hunted down Lindblad as his next victim. Going for another bold outside manoeuvre, this time at Turn 1, the young Brit squeezed out his Racing Bulls predecessor, forcing him to bail out of the attemopt.
Lap 10, and Russell was now 3.5s ahead of Hamilton, with Antonelli now within a second of the Ferrari, the leading trio leaving fourth-placed Norris behind.
Piastri’s charge on Leclerc fell away dramatically, now three seconds behind, as Hamilton boxed for Hard tyres on Lap 12.
Mercedes reacted immediately, bringing in Russell for Hards a lap later, to nullify Hamilton’s attempt at an undercut.
Russell blasts Mercedes as Antonelli enters the chat
Russell rejoined fifth, one place ahead of Hamilton, who was now set to try and make the most of his temperature advantage. Russell was unimpressed, accusing the team of “exposing” him to Antonelli, who boxed on Lap 15, in between. Leclerc, yet to box, was now in the lead, with Russell, in second, the de facto leader of the race once again,
Leclerc overruled Ferrari’s instruction to box, staying out an extra lap before coming in on Lap 17, reasoning: “We don’t care about Piastri,” assuming he had the pace to not consider him a threat.
The Monegasque put in some blistering times once his fresh tyres were bolted on, as further back, it got tetchy at Alpine, as Colapinto reluctantly let Gasly through, despite protesting that he was not pushing.
As the race developed, Russell led Antonelli by 1.7s, as, in the meantime, Hamilton confirmed Russell’s previous suspicions that he was on a three-stop strategy by pitting again, this time for Mediums, and immediately put them to work but overtaking Piastri, and quickly getting within a few seconds of his teammate.
Russell’s subsequent prophecy about Antonelli getting closer to him was also true, as by Lap 32, he was just six tenths of a second behind, with Norris 4.5s back.
‘This is our moment’ – Hamilton makes his mark
Hamilton’s searing pace saw Ferrari opt to switch cars, with Leclerc letting him through into fourth, as further in front, the Barcelona heat was turned up a few degree by the Mercedes pair.
Going into Turn 1, Antonelli got a huge tow and looked around the outside, but Russell covered him off, and then did so once again at Turn 3. All of this was good news for Hamilton, as he was able to use his current pace to get closer, with Antonelli also being warned several times by race engineer Peter Bonnington for track limits.
Hamilton asked Ferrari if he was catching them, with race engineer Carlo Santi confirming that he indeed was catching “very well,” Russell boxed on Lap 37 for Hards, with Antonelli following a lap later. Hamilton now led, with one more stop to go.
“This is our moment,” Santi told Hamilton, who had Leclerc 15 seconds back as a buffer, but Russell soon dispatched him. Hamilton was 16.1s ahead, with seven more laps on the Mediums before his third and final stop.
Fernando Alonso’s race was over in front of his home fans, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car. Hamilton’s stop was brought forward, and came out just as the VSC ended, ahead of both Mercedes. It could not have played out any better for Hamilton, now the outright leader.
Hamilton was able to extend the lead further, making it five seconds by the end of Lap 47.
It was 10 seconds by Lap 54, and with Antonelli protesting of having more pace, Russell was warned to “pick up the pace,” in a real threat to his second place. But the Italian was, according to McLaren, set for a five-second penalty for further track limits, the Woking-based squad reporting it to the stewards.
Antonelli suffers first 2026 retirement as Hamilton saunters to success
With a lead of now over 14 seconds, Hamilton rejected any suggestions from Santi as he remained comfortable out in front, with Antonelli just five tenths behind Russell.
Norris was able to stay relatively in touch with the Silver Arrows, but his tyres were in no fit state to manage a challenge for third place.
With victory looking over for Mercedes, Antonelli was now able to take it upon himself to race his teammate, and going into Turn 1 on Lap 61, the Italian squeezed past, despite Russell’s valiant attempts.
But with just one lap in second position, the championship pendulum swung unexpectedly in Russell’s favour. Coming out of Turn 5, Antonelli’s car slowed and crawled to a halt. A first retirement of the season, putting Russell back in second, in what was a gift he was not expecting.
Leclerc followed suit with an apparent steering issue, boxing the car and into retirement, with the VSC now back out. Hamilton remained out, and with just a couple of laps to go, was under no pressure.
In the red hot heat of Barcelona, a red car crossed the line first for the first time since 2024, and for the first time, Lewis Hamilton became a Ferrari Formula 1 race-winner.
Russell took second, with Norris third, Verstappen fourth, Piastri fifth and Hadjar sixth after a fine recovery drive. The Alpines were seventh and eighth, with Gasly leading, followed by the Racing Bulls duo of Lawson and Lindblad.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix – Race Results