Lewis Hamilton wins first Grand Prix for Ferrari in Barcelona
Lewis Hamilton secured his first grand prix win for Ferrari on a significant day in motorsport history, which also saw a British 1-2-3 on the podium.
Hamilton is beginning to gather momentum at the Prancing Horse after a tricky start to life in red since joining at the beginning of the 2025 season. The win in Barcelona closes the gap to Kimi Antonelli — who retired during the race — at the top of the leaderboard to 41 points, and it is Ferrari’s first Formula 1 race win since Carlos Sainz won the Mexico Grand Prix in 2024.
Runner-up George Russell and third-place finisher Lando Norris helped create another piece of motorsport history, with a first British 1-2-3 finish since 1968 when Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees finished in the top three at the United States Grand Prix.
The achievement at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix is Ferrari's 249th Formula 1 win, Hamilton's 106th career victory, and makes him the 41st driver to win a Grand Prix for the Maranello brand.
Coincidentally, Hamilton’s first win for Ferrari also came at the very circuit where Michael Schumacher claimed his first victory for the Prancing Horse in June 1996. Hamilton also joins Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, Tony Brooks, John Surtees, Nigel Mansell and Eddie Irvine as fellow British drivers to win a grand prix for Ferrari.
“Something I’ve dreamt about since I was a child”
Starting from the front row on used Soft tyres, Lewis Hamilton managed to hold onto second place during a potentially hazardous opening lap of the race. The Brit then took his opportunity to go into the lead with a combination of tyre management and team strategy during his three pit stops.
The chance came on lap 40, when a Virtual Safety Car was triggered after Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso stopped on track, giving Hamilton the chance to make his final pit top in half the usual time, all while retaining his lead ahead of the two Mercedes drivers. Fresher tyres until the end of the race ensured Hamilton wouldn’t be caught before the chequered flag.
The 41 year old was overcome with emotion after crossing the line and reflected on the importance of his first victory for Ferrari.
Hamilton said: "This is an incredibly special moment. Winning my first race with Ferrari is something I've dreamt about since I was a child, and to finally achieve it feels incredible. There were moments last year when this moment felt almost impossible, but I’m so grateful to Fred for believing in me and everyone there for making me feel so at home. We’ve been working so hard all year and so many things have changed over the past months, and today is the result of all that effort.
I'm so proud of everyone, both here at the track and back in Maranello. The upgrades we brought this weekend performed exactly as we hoped, the car felt great, and the team executed everything perfectly. The pitstops were fantastic and every detail was handled brilliantly.
I've been fortunate enough to experience many special moments in my career, but this one is different. Ferrari has the greatest fans in the world and seeing their passion, their energy and their support makes this victory even more meaningful. This is a day I'll never forget, and I hope it's the first of many wins that we can celebrate together."
“Our team should be proud of the upgrades we brought to the car”
Ferrari’s other driver, Charles Leclerc, had a day in Barcelona when a hydraulic issue forced him to retire from the race with four laps remaining. Leclerc had shown encouraging signs early in the race by breaking into the top six.
Leclerc said: "There was an issue on my car towards the end of the race, and unfortunately, I had to retire early. Our team should be proud of the upgrades we brought to the car, which ramped up our performance to this level. Congratulations to Lewis for his first win with the team, he did a great job this weekend and put it all together today.
I look forward to the next race now and hope we come back stronger in Austria with a clean weekend."
Austria awaits after short break
Following a second place finish in Monaco and win in Barcelona, Ferrari will be understandably frustrated at the upcoming break this weekend before F1 returns with the Austrian Grand Prix on June 28.
words: Mike Booth
pictures: Ferrari