The seven-time world champion delivered a composed drive, aided by a strong Ferrari strategy, to beat George Russell by 19.4 seconds and claim his first win in red, while also delivering Ferrari its first victory since 2024.

Having opted for an alternate tyre strategy at the start, Hamilton was the only one of the front-runners to commit to a three-stop race, with a well-timed Virtual Safety Car helping him when it mattered most.

The result gave Hamilton the 106th win of his Formula 1 career and made him the 41st different driver to win for Ferrari in the world championship.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli looked set to follow him home in second after passing teammate Russell for the runner-up spot with five laps remaining.

However, a lap later the Italian slowed and pulled to the side of the track for his first retirement of the season, dropping valuable points in the championship as Hamilton closed to within 41 points of the Mercedes driver.

 

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It was a late reprieve for Russell, who looked set to drop to third after more misfortune, but instead had to settle for second despite leading the majority of the race.

Lando Norris inherited the final podium place after a quiet afternoon, making it an all-British podium for the first time since the 1968 United States Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen finished fourth for Red Bull, while Oscar Piastri moved up two spots to fifth after the late retirements of Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc slowed on the same lap as Antonelli to record his second consecutive retirement, ending what had initially been a strong recovery drive after his issues on Saturday.

The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar finished sixth ahead of the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, while Liam Lawson scored points for the third race in a row for the first time in his career.

Lawson finished ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad, who claimed the final point for Racing Bulls.

But the main story was at the front, with a jubilant Hamilton ecstatic to return to the winners’ rostrum and emulate Michael Schumacher by claiming his first Ferrari victory in Barcelona.

“First, I have to start and say a grazie to everyone here. My team here. Ferrari. Everyone back at the factory. Fred [Vasseur] for believing in me and bringing me to this team,” he said.

“I started out with 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 have the greatest fan base a sportsman could ever ask for. And so, thank you. Thank you to everybody.”

He said the win ranked among the best of his career.

“They’re all special in their way but this one, this one is something else,” he said.

“I watched Ferrari have all their success when I was younger. I watched 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.

“And everyone worked so hard for it. Everyone truly deserves this. I’m forever grateful to them. And this is just the first, I hope, of many.

“But good stops today. Great strategy. The car felt fantastic. And yeah. Forza Ferrari.”

 

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Russell said he was satisfied with second, despite not ultimately having the pace in the closing laps to challenge Hamilton for the win.

“It’s good to be back on the podium and have a bit of a clean race from my side,” he said.

“But Ferrari mighty impressive today. And yeah we need to keep on pushing.

“Friday and Saturday was a really strong and solid day for me. Today was a little bit more challenging.

“Everything started off quite well. I felt good on the first stint. And then the last two stints it was a bit more difficult.

“But as I said, it’s good to be back here.”

He said he felt the threat from Ferrari was real moving forward in the championship.

“Yesterday was a real surprise for us as a team. And then the pace today was insane from Lewis. So yeah, they’re coming I think,” he admitted.

Norris, meanwhile, said he was also satisfied to be on the podium, despite lacking the pace to properly challenge at the front.

“It was a tough race. I did my best to keep up with these guys. But too quick,” he said.

“We stayed there. We gave ourselves a chance if anything happened. Then we obviously got a bit lucky with Antonelli going out.

“But otherwise, very happy. Very happy for the team. Very happy to be back on the podium.

“So a good day for us.”

Hamilton and Verstappen both gambled on soft tyres at the start, with the majority of the field opting for the medium compound Pirellis.

It changed little off the line, as Russell launched well from pole and out-dragged Hamilton into Turn 1 to lead the Ferrari driver, while Antonelli and Norris fought over third.

Verstappen briefly challenged Norris but was soon forced to defend from Piastri, who attacked into Turn 4 but could not make the move stick.

Hadjar endured a poor getaway in the second Red Bull, dropping from sixth to 13th and into a fight with the Alpine pair and Carlos Sainz, while Leclerc made early progress from 10th to seventh after his Saturday qualifying crash.

Russell ended the opening lap 1.2s clear of Hamilton and stretched that to 2.5s after five laps, as Antonelli began to pressure Hamilton for second.

Stroll became the race’s first retirement on Lap 6, slowly returning to the pits before Aston Martin wheeled him into the garage for his fourth retirement of the season.

A lap later, Leclerc nearly hit the rear of Piastri’s McLaren while attacking for sixth into Turn 1, before Hadjar continued his recovery to 11th by Lap 8 after clearing the Alpines.

Leclerc then made his way past Piastri through Turn 3 to take sixth and begin closing on Verstappen.

By Lap 10, Russell led Hamilton by 3.5s, with the Ferrari driver 1.9s clear of Antonelli. Norris was unable to trouble the Mercedes ahead, while Verstappen also struggled to make ground.

Hamilton stopped on Lap 11, with Ferrari’s soft-tyre gamble failing to bring him closer to the lead. He rejoined seventh, ahead of Hulkenberg’s Audi.

Lawson stopped on the same lap but suffered a slow rear tyre change, dropping from eighth to 19th before recovering as others pitted.

Russell and Verstappen stopped on Lap 12, with Russell rejoining ahead of Hamilton to retain track position as Antonelli inherited the lead.

Norris followed on Lap 13, before Antonelli and Piastri stopped on Lap 14, with Russell left frustrated after suggesting Mercedes’ decision to cover Hamilton had exposed him to his teammate.

Antonelli rejoined well behind Russell, while Leclerc inherited the lead as the final front-runner yet to stop. He pitted on Lap 16 and emerged ahead of Piastri in sixth, as Russell retook the lead 1.8s ahead of Hamilton.

Bottas became the second retirement a lap later, bringing his Cadillac into the pits for his third retirement of the season and second in succession.

The race settled through the middle stint, with Russell holding a gap of around two seconds while Leclerc closed on Verstappen, who was the only leading driver to take mediums as the rest switched to hards.

Behind them, Lawson came under pressure for ninth from Hulkenberg and Gasly, with the trio separated by little more than a second.

Gasly had moved to 11th after Alpine ordered Colapinto to let him through, a call that clearly frustrated the Argentinian.

Hulkenberg was also unhappy with Lawson, claiming the New Zealander moved under braking into Turn 1, although no investigation followed.

Hamilton was the first leading runner to stop again, pitting on Lap 27 for mediums and committing to a three-stop strategy. He dropped behind Piastri but quickly passed the Australian for sixth on Lap 29, then set the fastest lap.

Verstappen stopped on the same lap, but a slow service dropped him well behind Piastri into seventh.

At the front, Antonelli found pace and closed to within a second of Russell, while Ferrari ordered Leclerc to let Hamilton through as the Briton continued to gain.

Hulkenberg’s race ended on Lap 31 when he pulled into the pits, becoming the third retirement after Stroll and Bottas as his difficult start to the season continued.

Antonelli kept pushing and attacked Russell into Turn 1 on Lap 33, but Russell covered the move as the pair ran wheel-to-wheel through Turn 3 and into Turn 4.

Russell held the lead, while Hamilton moved to within seven seconds of Norris in third as the Mercedes pair continued to fight ahead.

Antonelli backed off slightly a lap later after receiving track limits warnings, with Mercedes telling him to watch his lines to avoid a five-second penalty.

Norris pitted from fourth on Lap 35, giving Hamilton more clear air in his pursuit of the Mercedes pair.

Russell stopped from the lead a lap later and rejoined fourth, while Hamilton closed to within 4.7s of Antonelli before the Italian also pitted on Lap 36.

Antonelli emerged behind his teammate, with both Mercedes drivers on hard tyres to the end, as Hamilton took the lead for the first time.

Russell then forced his way past Leclerc for second on Lap 40 just as the Ferrari driver pitted for the second time, prompting Ferrari to tell Hamilton to push over the next seven laps in an attempt to bridge the 15.9s gap to Russell with 26 laps remaining.

Hamilton was handed a major boost when Fernando Alonso retired on Lap 41, triggering a VSC to recover the stricken Aston Martin.

Ferrari took advantage by bringing Hamilton in on Lap 42, with the Briton doing enough to emerge back out in the lead by four seconds with all stops completed.

By Lap 50, Hamilton had stretched his advantage to 7.2s as Russell struggled to respond, while the gaps behind also began to stabilise.

Antonelli remained close to his teammate over the next 10 laps before finally getting ahead on Lap 61 with a dive down the inside into Turn 1.

But a lap later he slowed and retired from the race, with Leclerc joining him soon after as a late VSC neutralised the field for several laps.

Green flag racing resumed with two laps remaining, but Hamilton had already done more than enough to take a famous win for Ferrari and end Mercedes’ winning streak in 2026.

Teams and drivers will now regroup ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix on June 18.

Results: Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

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Driving Events is a Queensland-based motorsport training and driver development company delivering professional on-track and driver safety programs across Australia. Driving Events has built a strong reputation over nearly 15 years for delivering high-quality driver...

Driving Events is a Queensland-based motorsport training and driver development company delivering professional on-track and driver safety programs across Australia. Driving Events has built a...