Lewis Hamilton wins first Ferrari Grand Prix after VSC strategy masterclass in Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first Grand Prix win in red as a strategy masterclass from Ferrari produced the perfect three-stop strategy, including pouncing on the timing of a VSC.

The strategy put Hamilton ahead of George Russell, with the Briton doing the rest as he raced his way to the chequered flag. He won by 19 seconds ahead of Russell, with Lando Norris elevated to third by Kimi Antonelli’s late-race retirement.

Lewis Hamilton wins for Ferrari

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There was a brief moment of concern for Kimi Antonelli in the build-up to the formation lap as Mercedes bled his brakes after the championship leader reported a long brake pedal.

George Russell lined up on pole position on the medium Pirellis, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was on the soft tyres, Antonelli and Lando Norris. Max Verstappen in P5 was also on the softs, as too was Nico Hulkenberg in ninth.

Russell made a good launch and shot to the other side of the track to cover off Hamilton, with Antonelli third and under threat from Norris, who had Verstappen all over his rear wing. Oscar Piastri was seventh ahead of Charles Leclerc, who made up three positions, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg and Lindblad were both noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 1.

Russell was on a charge as he pulled clear of Hamilton, breaking out of overtake mode’s one second. He was leading by 2.5s after just five laps. While the one Mercedes ran in clear air, the other was stuck behind Hamilton in dirty air. Antonelli backed off, dropping 1.5s behind Hamilton.

Lance Stroll’s race ended on Lap 6 with the message, “Box, problem with gearbox.” His teammate Fernando Alonso, who started from the pit lane after taking a new power unit, was running last in 21st place.

Leclerc overtook Piastri on Lap 8, taking the long route around the outside at Turn 3. There was a moment of concern about his brakes, but his race engineer Bryan Bozzi told him: “We are fine on brakes, ignore the alarm.”

Isack Hadjar, who started sixth but had a poor start, attacked Lindblad for 10th place but the Racing Bulls driver did well to cover him off. Hadjar made the pass on Lap 11 and moved up into the points.

The first round of pit stops began at the end of Lap 11, Hamilton in from second, Lawson in from eighth and Verstappen likely to be in soon as he reported, “Struggling a lot with the tyres.”

Russell came in a lap later with a five-second lead over Antonelli, and came out metres ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen was in next, then Norris and Hulkenberg, Antonelli and Piastri, and Hadjar. From laps 11 to 15, all bar Leclerc had pitted out of the early top ten. Leclerc was called into the pits, but told Ferrari he does “not care” about covering off Piastri, he wanted to stay out. And then he pitted, Lap 16.

Valtteri Bottas was told to “retire the car” as his Cadillac had an issue. Both Williams drivers, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, were under investigation for a starting procedure infringement.

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A third of the way through the 66-lap Grand Prix, Russell was leading by two seconds ahead of Hamilton, who had dropped Antonelli by four seconds. Norris was fourth ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Hadjar, Lindblad and Liam Lawson. Lindblad had yet to pit.

Franco Colapinto was asked to switch positions with Pierre Gasly, the Argentine not impressed as his teammate was “1 to 2 seconds” behind him.

Despite his three-second lead, Russell was asking for extra wing, Verstappen said his tyres “are just not feeling good”, and Hamilton dived into the pits on Lap 28 to swap onto a second set of medium Pirelli tyres. Verstappen stopped a lap later.

Hulkenberg complained that Lawson’s defense of P10 at Turn 1 was “dangerous” and pitted shortly after. He retired due to a suspected engine failure. Antonelli was given a black-and-white for track limits.

Midway through the race, Antonelli was on a charge and caught Russell. He attacked his teammate for the lead, but Russell rebuffed him. And all the while Norris closed his gap to the Mercedes teammates while Hamilton, on his fresh tyres, took chunks out of the lead.

Norris pitted on Lap 35 from third, with Russell in a lap later. He came out P4 behind Leclerc. Antonelli was in the very next lap, which put Hamilton into the lead. The Italian not only came out behind Russell, but also with a backmarker between himself and his teammate. Leclerc was in next, every one of the top eight having pitted for a second time before the end of Lap 39.

Virtual Safety Car! The VSC was shown on Lap 41 as Alonso came to a halt on the side of the track. Red Bull pounced and pitted Verstappen, with Ferrari stopping Hamilton on the next lap. A third stop for both drivers. “And you are in front!” was the message to Hamilton from his race engineer Carlo Santi.

Hamilton pulled away from Russell at the front, his gap up to three seconds, then four. He was, however, noted for a yellow flag infringement. The yellow flags for Alonso’s stricken AMR26 were shown as the Ferrari driver closed in on the Aston Martin. Race Control announced no further investigation.

Hamilton’s lead over Russell was up to 10 seconds with 10 laps remaining, Russell was warned by Mercedes that he needed to up his pace with Antonelli less than a second behind him and Norris on the Italian’s rear wing. Norris was told that McLaren had reported Antonelli to Race Control for repeatedly exceeding track limits.

Heading into the final five laps, Antonelli was all over Antonelli’s rear wing and challenged his teammate into Turn 1. Russell squeezed his teammate almost off the track, but the Italian wasn’t backing down. Antonelli took second off Russell but was left with a damaged front wing in the battle.

Virtual Safety Car! Antonelli suddenly slowed on the straight, his race over. Leclerc too ran into trouble, reporting a loss of power steering. Leclerc pulled into the pits to retire his SF-26.

The VSC ended midway through Hamilton’s penultimate lap, the Briton comfortably 20 seconds ahead of Russell with Norris now running third.

The seven-time world champion crossed the line to take the win, his first as a Ferrari driver. It was Hamilton’s 106th Grand Prix win, and his first since the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix. The win also ended Mercedes’ winning Grand Prix streak.

Russell was second ahead of Norris, with Verstappen and Piastri the next across the line. Hadjar, Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Lawson and Lindblad completed the points.

Barcelona Grand Prix: Result

1. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 66 Laps
2. George Russell, Mercedes, +19.561
3. Lando Norris, McLaren, +23.719
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +40.497
5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +58.661
6. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull, +1L
7. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +1L
8. Franco Colapinto, Alpine, +1L
9. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, +1L
10. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, +1L

The full result from the Barcelona Grand Prix

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