Lewis Hamilton silences doubters as Mercedes split Barcelona winners and losers

Lewis Hamilton shook off years of doubts in one afternoon in Barcelona, while it was a day of very mixed feelings for the Mercedes boys.

Here is PlanetF1.com’s full list of winners and losers from the 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton leads Barcelona Grand Prix winners and losers

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Winner: Lewis Hamilton

While there were some occasional flashes of the ‘old’ Lewis Hamilton at times during his final years at Mercedes, there was never a run of form rich enough, nor a performance emphatic enough, to fully shake off the question marks about whether the virtuoso within was still present.

Had Hamilton’s spark dulled, had his masterful speed and instincts slipped like sand through his fingers as the months and years ticked by, the appetite for recovery left quelled by years of success that meant a return to the top would never happen?

But the seven-time F1 World Champion took 92 minutes and 28 seconds to blow away those years of doubts in Barcelona, with a performance that relied on speed and aggressive attack right from the off.

Committing to the soft tyre for the start, the three-stop strategy was indicated early by Ferrari as Mercedes opted for the two-stop, and Hamilton dived into the pits on Lap 11 to disappear from the rear view mirrors of George Russell.

Mercedes almost seemed to lose track of what Hamilton was up to through the middle phase of the race, warning its drivers more about the gap to Lando Norris rather than the Ferrari, but Hamilton was utilising his freedom to push on his short sprints between stops.

Not only was he producing eye-opening moments like his pass around the outside of Oscar Piastri, but there were laps where he was lapping two to three seconds faster than the Mercedes’ as Russell held Kimi Antonelli off but, in the process, cost them both significant time.

What would have been fascinating to see was just how the race would have panned out with the Virtual Safety Car: while Hamilton would have needed to overtake the two Mercedes drivers on track, such was his pace that it’s difficult to see how he could have been held off.

Making more stops in favour of not worrying about tyre longevity is a tactic that’s worked well for Hamilton in Barcelona in the past, having beaten Max Verstappen with an extra stop back in 2021, but Mercedes of 2026 opted for conservatism and, in doing so, always looked likely to be beaten, even if the VSC hadn’t happened.

But, even moreso than the victory in isolation, it’s the bigger picture of what’s going on with Ferrari in general that makes Hamilton a winner. Not only was this a hustling drive, one that backed Mercedes into a corner as Hamilton’s pace was relentless, but it is indicative of the progress that has been made behind closed doors.

While Fred Vasseur was eager to play down the contribution of Carlo Santi in isolation, instead pointing to the effort being made by the Ferrari team as a whole, it’s evident that the synergy between Santi and Hamilton appears to have clicked to a far greater extent than what Hamilton had with Riccardo Adami.

Coming off the back of years of having a wingman in his ear in the form of Pete Bonnington, it was evident that Hamilton and Adami did not have that same rapport or ease of radio communication. Regardless of how technically proficient or amenable their working relationship may have been together, the communication styles could not have been in greater contrast as Santi came on the radio to spur on his driver, with the Italian almost whooping with delight as Hamilton emerged in the lead.

What may have been intended as an interim solution has clicked, showcasing the power of two personalities meshing well; Hamilton is a driver who appears to thrive when he feels the encouragement of a collaborative effort with his race engineer, and it was no surprise that it was Santi who joined Hamilton on the podium – the first for Santi since helping Kimi Raikkonen to his final race win in Austin in 2018.

Is it too early to think about that elusive and record-breaking eighth title? I suspect not. The Ferrari chassis is clearly a potent one, and the shortcomings of the engine can be reduced through the ADUO upgrade coming – don’t forget, Ferrari has been very focused on maintaining the integrity of the ADUO system, suggesting its entire power unit approach has been with that opportunity in mind.

As for Hamilton, he is slowly but surely starting to show his leadership qualities, and Charles Leclerc is in danger of losing the impetus of the team that has been unquestionably ‘his’ for several years.

Oh, and, as the neat ribbon tying the whole package of the performance together, Hamilton set his fastest lap on Lap 44. Poetry.

Loser: George Russell

At the surface level, Sunday was a good day for George Russell as he closed down the gap to Kimi Antonelli by 18 points; a not insignificant chunk of the lead.

But there’s no getting around the fact that this was purely circumstantial and that, had the power unit on Antonelli’s car not given up, Russell was looking at a defeat and a third-place finish from his pole position.

It was an unusual display, given that Russell had taken pole in emphatic fashion and, on the medium tyre at the start, had no problems pulling away from Hamilton and Antonelli.

But, once he swapped to the hard, Russell simply did not have Antonelli’s pace – this resulted in him holding the pair of them up and allowing Hamilton into the picture even before the VSC stacked the cards entirely in Ferrari’s favour.

“If I were in the race on my own and there were no other drivers and I was doing a two-stop, I would not have pitted on Lap 13,” Russell said afterwards.

“Now, you’re never in the race on your own. You’re reacting to your competitors, and they put us in a very challenging position to pit this early.

“The truth is my pace wasn’t quite strong enough today, but I do think I could have just mirrored his strategy on the three-stop, but that would have maybe left me exposed to Kimi on the two-stop, and maybe I wouldn’t have been happy about that in the end. So, I need to go through it with my team.”

Having had his bad luck from Canada ‘cancelled out’ by Antonelli’s breakdown, there’s precious little positive for Russell to cling onto at present: regardless of the track, the conditions, or the circumstances of the day, his younger, inexperienced, teammate has the answer to whatever he has.

“I’m going to be honest: I’m not really thinking about the championship. I’m thinking about just controlling my controllables,” he said.

“And, you know, Friday and Saturday, I felt like I did everything to the best of my ability and got absolutely the best result possible on almost every single lap I did.

“Today, I made a great start. The first stint was solid, but the last two stints on the hard weren’t good enough.

“So, my head is coming out of this race thinking performance was not strong enough, and I need to make some improvements. It’s a challenging circuit.

“It’s the first race of the year where we’ve had major tyre degradation. You know, the winner on a three-stop strategy. The six races prior have been an easy one-stop. So totally different ballgame today. We’ll reassess in Austria. But as I said, I’m going to control my controllables and keep on trying to apply the pressure.”

Winner: Kimi Antonelli

Following on from that, Antonelli is slowly but surely starting to push Russell’s reputation back from an ‘elite Champion in waiting’ hypothetical to that of being merely ‘excellent’.

Having watched as Russell and Hamilton pulled away from him in the first stint, Antonelli kept his head down and, slowly but surely, the pace came back to him, allowing him to latch on and pressure his teammate through the second stint.

Would Antonelli have been more insistent through this phase if it had been anyone other than Russell? Based on Canada, perhaps not, but there’s no telling what warnings or discussions have been had in private since that day in Montreal.

Certainly, Antonelli played it cautiously and fairly with Russell; valuable time lost that, had he been ahead of the British driver, may have made all the difference between beating Hamilton into Turn 1 after the Ferrari driver’s VSC stop.

Either way, victory would have been unlikely from there, but it all became academic once his car broke down just a few moments after putting in a daring and inch-perfect pass to get past Russell.

It’s perhaps for this reason that Antonelli, although thoroughly disappointed, wasn’t distraught: with every passing weekend, he knows he’s proving to everybody – whether that be Wolff, Russell, or himself – that this is a much improved version of the driver who shone through on occasion last season.

Had the race played out without the VSC, it was Antonelli who looked like he would lead Mercedes’ charge for the win, but, perhaps more worryingly for the Italian, it was the first race since Suzuka that Mercedes looked properly beatable – have Ferrari’s upgrades closed the gap entirely?

If they have, perhaps it’s Hamilton who Antonelli will face for the title, and that is an altogether different challenge than what Antonelli may have thought a few weeks ago.

Loser: Nico Hulkenberg

Just two points on the board is no fair reflection of just how competitive Audi has genuinely been this season, and Spain was another example of just how the pieces can fall in such a way that a strong-performing car isn’t quite able to get into the top 10.

If there was ever an example of how bad luck can play a part in clouding a picture, it is the circumstances of Nico Hulkenberg’s retirement – perhaps one of the most bizarre reasons for a DNF in living memory.

Hulkenberg, like race winner Hamilton, had started on the soft tyre, swapping to the hards on Lap 13. Battling with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Hulkenberg’s car was ‘killed’ by an expertly-aimed stone lobbed back at it by the Kiwi’s wheels.

“He [Lawson] put a wheel in the gravel exit of [Turn] 12, picked up a lot of gravel, and that gravel somehow… a stone pulled the emergency trigger on the left of the rollhoop, and it just killed the car,” a perplexed Hulkenberg explained later.

“It just switched off and… game over.

“The car was dead, and then obviously I just coasted into the pit lane, because there was nothing left. It was just completely shut down.

“I would have never seen or heard about this, to be honest, in my career. Very unlucky, strange, the timing of that. Somehow, it’s the racing gods don’t want us to score yet.”

With Lawson going on to finish in ninth, it’s quite likely that at least a point or two was missed due to that incredible bit of bad luck.

Winner: Red Bull

Perhaps it’s moreso Red Bull Powertrains that deserve to be on the winners list this time, as all four of the RBPT-powered cars finished in the top 10 at a track that demands engine power just as much as it does engine efficiency.

It was a somewhat anonymous race for Red Bull Racing itself, with the pace not quite in the RB22 to the extent that would allow Max Verstappen to fight for a podium place.

For Isack Hadjar, he struggled to get his car off the line and plummeted down to 14th on the long run to Turn 1, but produced a really strong overtaking-filled drive from there as he passed Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto around the outside, as well as great moves on the likes of Oliver Bearman, Arvid Lindblad, and Liam Lawson.

It’s clear the RB22 is a car faster than the midfield runners, but not fast enough to get involved at the very front, leaving Verstappen and Hadjar in something of a no-man’s land as Red Bull aim to improve upon this solid, if somewhat underwhelming, baseline.

As for Racing Bulls, the car may not have been as competitive over the race distance as it was over a single lap on Saturday, as Liam Lawson explained that he had expected more from a day in which Alpine sprung a surprise, but it was still a double points finish – even if retirements further ahead were needed to achieve that.

Oh, and the Faenza-based squad got an extra helping of points when Franco Colapinto was given a post-race time penalty.

More from the Barcelona Grand Prix

Barcelona GP conclusions: Lewis Hamilton rediscovered, hidden Russell defeat, new Leclerc crisis

Barcelona GP driver ratings: Hamilton perfect 10 as Russell flatters to deceive

Loser: Alex Albon

It’s a trying time for Williams, and particularly for Alex Albon at present, with the Grove-based squad desperately trying to catch back up from its slow start to the season.

With an overweight car that is not as aerodynamically advanced as it could have been with a smoother pre-season, Barcelona was always going to be a track at which the team struggled – the other Mercedes-powered cars showed the deficiencies are on the chassis side.

Carlos Sainz managed to get his car into Q2, but Albon was knocked out in Q1. The usually chipper British-Thai racer was notably downbeat in his media sessions over the weekend, particularly so after Williams opted to turn his race into an extended test session rather than trying to keep going in the vain hope of something circumstantial playing their way.

This decision was made easier by the fact that Albon had had his onboard camera work loose, meaning he had to pit to have that checked over, with Williams also taking the opportunity to see if they could figure out what was going on regarding some aberrant behaviour from the car, an issue Albon suspected was mechanical.

“There was an issue with the car after qualifying, so we couldn’t change it due to parc ferme,” he said.

“We used that time in the garage, just to… we couldn’t correct it, but we could kind of budget to get back to what it should be.”

Winner: Alpine

It was all doom and gloom at Alpine on Saturday as both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto lacked confidence in their A526s – particularly Gasly, who revealed mystifying behaviour under braking that saw him fighting to keep the car pointing in a straight line.

That yawing didn’t disappear on Sunday but, while the car remained unpredictable, it also proved quite fast: Gasly was able to rise into seventh place by way of a two-stop strategy, aided by the timing of the VSC on Lap 40 that allowed him to shake off Lawson after catching the Kiwi just before his stop.

“I must say, I would have signed it any single day after the quali yesterday,” Gasly smiled after the chequered flag.

“The whole weekend has been very difficult, even today in the car, I still struggled a lot with the braking at Turn 1 and Turn 4 not being able to brake properly.

“I think the hot conditions and degradation seemed to go in our favour. I was surprised with Liam having so much deg, because, on one lap pace, they were a lot faster.

“I think we did well with the strategy, and at the moment, all the stars seem to align for us. We were in the right pack, putting the pressure, decided to stay out three or four laps more, the VSC came in, got free air and managed to get a lot more pace. I can’t be happier than that.

In the battle of the midfield runners, Alpine is proving the most consistent dark horse: even with a car the drivers aren’t happy with, they appear able to hang on in there with Audi and Racing Bulls and execute more consistent results.

Loser: Aston Martin

Aston Martin also took part in this race.

I was tempted to leave the summary of Aston Martin’s weekend as succinct as that, such was the extent of the disaster that unfolded at what was almost a defacto home race in front of Fernando Alonso’s devoted fanbase.

There were no positives to take away from this performance. Both cars retired with mechanical issues – Alonso’s related to the power unit on the battery side, although there has been no recurrence of the vibration issues that caused the problems earlier in the season, and Lance Stroll’s race came to an end with a gearbox issue.

On single lap performance, the car lagged significantly behind the rest of the pack, even a second off the Cadillac, and the race pace was little better.

The drivers were grumpy too: Stroll is rarely effusive when speaking to the media, but his sub-one-minute appearances with the print media were particularly monosyllabic on this weekend as he summed up his outqualifying of Alonso with a terse “I don’t give a s**t”.

As for Alonso, who must have hoped for a more joyful goodbye to Barcelona in what is likely his last race at the circuit in F1, even his usual pragmatism cracked as he commented on the “worst engine and worst car” in F1 on Saturday.

“We expected a difficult weekend, but then having poor performance, and then having two DNFs, does not make it easy,” Mike Krack said after the race.

“In the first place, I feel sorry for all the fans in green shirts in the grandstands in the paddock, there were many when we drove in and out.

“It was so nice to see all these people with the green shirts, and we could not give them anything to cheer about, which is a shame, because we started from the pit lane, and then we could not finish the race with a decent result.

“So, in the first place, I’m really sorry for all the fans who have bought expensive tickets to see their heroes, and we could not give them the pathway to perform.”

With the atmosphere around the team one of glum resignation, as the drivers try to hide their frustrations, the focus is purely on the upgrades that will be rolled out later this summer.

But there is a sense that there will be a tipping point if there are no seeds of hope sown this year: in that event, will Stroll opt for renewal and revolution, or keep the faith with the current senior leadership?

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