Six months after brutal criticism, John Elkann salutes Lewis Hamilton debut Ferrari win

Six months on from his blunt criticism of Ferrari’s F1 drivers, Ferrari chairman John Elkann has praised Lewis Hamilton for an “emotional” and “very important” first win in red.

Hamilton clinched Ferrari’s first Grand Prix win since 2024 in Barcelona on Sunday, where Ferrari’s strategy team masterminded a race-winning three-stop strategy, and Hamilton did the rest.

John Elkann praises Lewis Hamilton after Ferrari victory

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Hamilton lined up second on the grid ahead of Sunday’s 66-lap race, but it was a race that initially looked to be in Mercedes’ control as George Russell held onto P1 off the line and controlled the pace.

Ferrari played its cards with Hamilton as he was the first of the top ten to pit for fresh tyres, in on Lap 11. Mercedes responded by pitting Russell, who wasn’t happy with the call but he maintained his lead by two seconds ahead of his compatriot.

Ferrari was the first to throw the dice again in the second round of pit stops, with Hamilton stopping on Lap 28 to swap onto a second set of medium Pirelli tyres. This time Mercedes didn’t respond.

Hamilton sliced his way through the field, getting ever closer to the Mercedes teammates, with Russell eventually in on Lap 36. As the strategies played out, it was Hamilton who led having had seven full-gas laps.

A Virtual Safety Car on Lap 41 was the final blow to Mercedes, with Hamilton into the pits for a fresh stop. Pitting from first place, and out in first place. “And you are in front!” was the message to Hamilton from his race engineer Carlo Santi.

With fresh tyres bolted onto his SF-26, Hamilton put an end to Mercedes’ challenge as he stormed into the distance. He won the Grand Prix 19.561s ahead of Russell.

“Grazie a tutti, Maranello,” he said over the radio. “Thank you so much. You’ve helped me achieve this dream, and I can’t thank you enough.

“Thanks for everyone pushing so hard back at home. I’m so proud of you.

“To my family, I love you. To my fans, thank you for continuing to remind me who I am. I couldn’t have done this without you.

“Grazie!”

Ferrari chairman Elkann was one of the first to congratulate Hamilton on his first success as a Ferrari driver.

“Well done Lewis, on your first great victory with Ferrari: an emotional moment and a very important result, which belongs to the entire team and to all our fans,” Elkann said in a statement.

“I would like to thank everyone for the determination, sacrifice and collective effort that they demonstrate every day with passion and Ferrari spirit, both at the track and in Maranello.

“My thanks also go to the other Ferrari team, which tackled an incredibly demanding 24 Hours of Le Mans with pride, unity and great professionalism, fighting until the very end.

“Forza Ferrari.”

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Elkann’s praise comes just months after he launched a broadside at Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after a double retirement at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Slipping down the standings, Elkann pointed the finger at his drivers.

“If we look at the Formula 1 championship, we can say that on one hand we have our mechanics, who are actually are winning the championship with their performance and everything they’ve done on the pit stops,” he said.

“If we look at our engineers, there’s no doubt that the car has improved. If we look at the rest, it’s not up to par.

“We certainly have drivers, for whom it’s important that they focus on driving and talk less, because we still have important races ahead of us and it’s not impossible to get second place.”

Ferrari did not secure second place last season, with the team P4 in the Constructors’ standings. This year, though, the team is sitting in second place after seven race weekends, 49 points ahead of McLaren but 72 points behind championship leaders Mercedes.

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