Lewis Hamilton takes home his first victory in red in Barcelona ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris.
Welcome back Sir Lewis Hamilton
In his time at Ferrari so far Lewis Hamilton has pretty much been through the trenches, facing struggle after struggle in 2025. However, in 2026, it would appear that we are witnessing an invigorated version of Hamilton. Off the back of 2 consecutive P2 podiums in Canada and Monaco, the British driver finally took home his long-awaited first victory in the scarlet red of a Ferrari.
Hamilton started the race in P2 on soft tyres, which gave us the early indication that he was on for a 3 stop strategy. He was in the lead by the time it came to his third pit stop, and the fortunate timing of a virtual safety car meant that Hamilton could pit and maintain his lead. Hamilton would have most likely caught back up to the Mercedes cars after his pit regardless of the safety car, however it was a nice aid for him.
Recent opinions of the media have suggested that Hamilton is too old, he’s lost his edge and he’ll always remain second to his teammate at Ferrari. However, one thing people should learn is that you should never write off greatness, and this is something that Lewis Hamilton continues to prove time and time again.
A podium for the Brits!
The Barcelona Grand Prix podium was certainly a special one, as we saw the first all British podium since 1968. Mercedes driver George Russell started the race on pole, and while he didn’t manage to convert it to a win today, he can still consider it a positive outing. In what was his 100th race for Mercedes, Russell took home P2 behind Hamilton, finally bringing an end to his horrendous run of bad luck. Though strategy wasn’t on his side today, Russell optimised his race the best he could and secured his first podium since China five races ago. Russell said going into the weekend that he was bringing with him a fresh mindset, and it’s clear what we’re witnessing is a very much rejuvenated George Russell ready to fight for his shot at the title.
McLaren driver Lando Norris started the race in P4, and that’s where he stayed for the majority of it as he drove a fairly calm race. Norris was never really under pressure from Verstappen behind him, and he himself never got close enough to truly challenge Antonelli in P3. However, after Antonelli’s DNF, Norris found himself in P3 and on the podium for the second time this season. Sometimes it’s all about just keeping your head down and being in the right place at the right time, and that’s exactly what Norris did in order to bring home a well-deserved podium.
Antonelli and Leclerc among 7 drivers to DNF
Kimi Antonelli suffered his first DNF of the season on lap 62 of 66 of the race due to mechanical issues, thus seeing him off the podium and leaving the weekend point-less. The DNF will be a bitter pill for Antonelli to swallow as his main two rivals in the championship took home 25 and 18 points respectively while he takes home 0. It seems the bad luck his teammate George Russell has been forced to tolerate ever since China has finally latched onto Antonelli for the first time. Antonelli will be hoping to bounce back from this next time out in Austria.
It’s been a double header of pain for Charles Leclerc as he suffered a crash last time out at his home race in Monaco, and has now followed on from that with another DNF in Barcelona. Leclerc struggled with power steering issues and went off into the gravel before pitting to retire the car.
It was an unfortunate home race for Spanish driver Fernando Alonso as both he and teammate Lance Stroll suffered a DNF. The other drivers to DNF were Oliver Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas.
VCARB on a roll
It’s back to back double points for the Racing Bulls drivers as Liam Lawson finished P9, with his teammate Arvid Lindblad right behind him in P10. After a strong outing last time out in Monaco, where both drivers either got or equaled their career best finishes, it’s great to see VCARB continuing their run of success with such great momentum.
Feature image courtesy of Formula 1