Hamilton breaks 686-day drought with maiden Ferrari win in Barcelona as Antonelli retires
Lewis Hamilton secured his first win since July 2024 and his first as a Ferrari driver at the Spanish Grand Prix, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli retired with engine trouble, cutting his points lead to 41.
Lewis Hamilton ended a 686-day victory drought at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday, taking his first Formula 1 win for Ferrari and the 106th of his career. The seven-time world champion executed a three-stop strategy that paid off when a virtual safety car, triggered by Fernando Alonso’s retirement, let him pit with minimal time loss and cruise to the flag.
Emotionally we gave him support and told him: we’re behind you, let’s start again.
The podium
Behind Hamilton, his compatriot George Russell took second for Mercedes, with reigning world champion Lando Norris third for McLaren. All three drivers are British, marking the first all-UK podium since 1968.
Antonelli’s heartbreak
The race turned dramatic for championship leader Kimi Antonelli. The 19-year-old Italian had won five consecutive grands prix but was forced to park his Mercedes while running second after a sudden engine problem late in the race. His retirement allowed Hamilton, now second in the standings, to close the gap to 41 points with 15 rounds remaining.
Strategy and luck
Russell started from pole position and led the opening stint, but Ferrari’s gamble on a three-stop plan for Hamilton proved decisive. Hamilton pitted on lap 12, again on lap 28, and then took the lead when the two Mercedes drivers made their own stops before lap 38. Moments later, Alonso’s stricken Aston Martin brought out a virtual safety car, giving Hamilton a cheap third stop and a comfortable cushion to the finish.
- Lights out: Russell leads from pole, Hamilton holds second, Antonelli third.
- Lap 12: Hamilton pits for hard tyres, the first of the frontrunners to stop.
- Lap 13: Russell pits one lap later, emerging just ahead of Hamilton.
- Lap 28: Hamilton makes second stop on a three-stop strategy.
- Lap 38: Hamilton takes the lead after Russell and Antonelli complete their own second stops.
- Virtual safety car deployed as Alonso retires with a defect; Hamilton pits with little time lost.
- Antonelli retires from second place with an engine problem, handing Mercedes a double DNF in the lead fight.
Further back
Nico Hülkenberg was on course for his first points of the season in the Audi but retired with a power-unit problem shortly after the halfway mark. Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, meanwhile, had been awarded third in Monaco five days after the race following a timing-system protest, but the Frenchman never featured at the front in Barcelona.
What’s next
The championship resumes after a two-week break at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg from June 26 to 28.
