F1 Barcelona GP: Lewis Hamilton takes maiden Ferrari…

A strategic masterclass gave Lewis Hamilton his maiden victory for Ferrari at the Barcelona Grand Prix while Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli retired late on.

The Mercedes driver was set to finish second behind Hamilton before an engine failure struck with three laps remaining, handing the runner-up spot to team-mate George Russell.

Antonelli’s retirement therefore meant Lando Norris completed the podium, one which saw Hamilton finally achieve victory on his 31st Ferrari start during a rejuvenated 2026.

The seven-time world champion arrived in Barcelona after two consecutive runner-up finishes to Antonelli and said after Monaco last weekend that his 106th career victory “couldn’t be closer”.

But he was made to work for it, as a “big reset” led to Russell beating his former team-mate to pole after slipping 68 points behind Antonelli who rounded out the top three starting positions.

Different strategies were shown straight away though, as Mercedes chose the favourable mediums compared to Hamilton on softs, which had previously shown fragility in the heat.

So it didn’t take long for that to show in the 30C conditions, as Russell held firm at race start before streaking three seconds clear of Hamilton during a relatively static opening 10 laps.

The bigger gainer was Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc who jumped from 10th to sixth on mediums, before starting to apply pressure on the struggling Max Verstappen with softs.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Hamilton and Verstappen therefore respectively pitted for hard and medium rubber quite quickly, coming in on lap 12 with Russell following suit the next tour, though against his wish.

The Mercedes driver was worried he’d been “exposed” to Antonelli who’d extended his first stint, but race engineer Marcus Dudley confirmed there was “nothing to worry about”.

That’s because Antonelli only stayed out for two extra laps before fitting the hard rubber, where he rejoined in third to keep the order as it was during an expected two-stop contest.

But Ferrari threw yet another curveball with Hamilton’s strategy by pitting him for mediums on lap 28, having struggled to close on Russell across a very stationary second stint.

The seven-time world champion rejoined in seventh, quickly taking sixth from Oscar Piastri at Turn 4, before fifth on lap 30 as Verstappen suffered a slow 4.5s pitstop for hard rubber.

Yet opting for a three-stopper turned into a masterstroke from Ferrari, as it allowed a rapid Antonelli to close to within half a second of Russell after being caught out by traffic.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images)

The championship leader therefore launched various attacks on the Briton, each time Russell holding firm, but it caused the Mercedes drivers to take time off each other while Leclerc easily let Hamilton by into fourth on lap 32.

“Am I catching them,” was Hamilton’s response, sensing his best chance yet of a maiden Ferrari win as he continuously cut the gap on fresh mediums - helped by Norris pitting from third.

Third soon became the race lead as Mercedes pitted both drivers for hards come lap 38, leaving Russell and Antonelli respectively 16s and 17s behind the Ferrari driver before a lap 41 VSC.

That happened through Fernando Alonso stopping at Turn 9, giving Hamilton a timely opportunity to pit for hards and rejoin two-seconds ahead of Russell just as the VSC ended.

“Great job guys” is how a buoyant Hamilton reacted, before gradually building his advantage across a controlled final stage as Mercedes had no answer to the pace of the Ferrari.

So the Scuderia eventually ended the Silver Arrows’ perfect start to 2026, taking victory at round seven and its first since Carlos Sainz’s win at the Mexico Grand Prix in October 2024.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images)

As for Hamilton, this was his first victory since July of that year in Belgium, crossing the line 19.5s ahead of Russell who’d briefly dropped to third after a late overtake from Antonelli down the pit straight.

But only two tours later, on lap 63, trouble hit Antonelli as it did Leclerc who’d lost the power steering on the sister Ferrari to retire from sixth.

So it left an all-British podium of Hamilton, Russell and Norris, ahead of fourth-placed Verstappen, fifth-placed Piastri and Isack Hadjar in sixth for Red Bull.

Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were respectively seventh and eighth, with Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completing the top 10.

Antonelli consequently leads the championship by 41 points over Hamilton, while third-placed Russell has cut his deficit to 50.