Lewis Hamilton Claims Maiden Ferrari Victory in Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton has wound back the clock and announced himself as a Formula 1 world championship contender again, claiming his maiden grand prix win as a Ferrari driver.

The 41-year-old drove a flawless race, executed a smart Ferrari strategy, and was aided by a fortuitous safety car to win Sunday's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

F1 drivers' championship leader Kimi Antonelli suffered a late power unit failure, just moments after the teenager had overtaken teammate George Russell for second place.

Russell finished second, while McLaren's Lando Norris rounded out the first all-British podium in F1 since 1968.

Australia's Oscar Piastri spent most of the 66-lap grand prix alone in seventh place.

However, the late retirement of Antonelli and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who also lost power four laps from the end, allowed the Victorian to place fifth.

But the day belonged to Hamilton, who claimed his first grand prix win since Silverstone in 2024, and Ferrari's first since Mexico that same year.

"I started out a dream last year which almost seemed impossible during my time last year, but we never gave up hope," said Hamilton, who joined Ferrari in 2025 after 12 years with Mercedes.

"The team continued to lift me up. We've made so many changes and so many improvements.

"And, on top of that, I've got the greatest fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for."

On a hot day in Barcelona where tyre management and pit strategy would play a crucial role, Ferrari elected to go for a three-stop strategy, opposite to the two-stop strategy both Mercedes and McLaren opted for.

Hamilton's pace improved throughout the race and the seven-time world champion looked poised to make a charging run home after his third stop.

But a fortuitous virtual safety car on lap 40, after Spaniard Fernando Alonso stopped on track, allowed Hamilton to come in for his third stop and retain the lead when he emerged back on track.

"Great pit stops today, great strategy. The car felt fantastic," he said.

The win is Hamilton's 106th grand prix triumph, a record in F1.

Hamilton is now 41 points behind Antonelli in the drivers' championship, after the 19-year-old suffered a cruel end.

The teenager, who had won the previous five grands prix, made a great move on his teammate Russell to claim second place with five laps remaining.

But on the next lap the Italian was out of the car after it suffered a suspected power unit failure, just like Russell suffered in Canada last month.

Speaking after the race, Hamilton said there was a lot of work that needed to be done to be challenging for a record eighth drivers' championship, but he believed it was possible.

"They [Mercedes] still have great pace as you can see," Hamilton said.

"But we're going to keep working, we're going to keep trying to close that gap.

"It's not over, that is for sure."

Oscar Piastri started seventh, but was quickly up to sixth following a horror start from Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

Piastri was back to seventh after eight laps when Leclerc passed him, and then the Australian was on his own.

Unable to keep pace with the leading six, but well ahead of those behind, the Australian seemed destined to finish seventh until Antonelli and Leclerc both failed to finish.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen drove a clean race to place fourth while teammate Hadjar recovered well to place sixth, where he had started the race.

Alpine scored double points with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto finishing seventh and eighth.

Racing Bulls rounded out the point-scoring positions with Liam Lawson ninth and Arvid Lindblad 10th.