Hamilton Wins First Ferrari Race, Ends Antonelli's Streak at Barcelona Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton finally did it. At 41, the seven-time world champion won his first race for Ferrari on Sunday at the Barcelona-Catalunya Formula One Grand Prix, ending championship leader Kimi Antonelli's five-race winning streak.

Hamilton finished ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris, with Antonelli forced to abandon in the final stages because of a technical problem. The victory was Hamilton's 106th career win but his first since November 2024 — nearly two years ago.

"It's not over, that's for sure," Hamilton said of the championship race. He now trails Antonelli by 41 points with plenty of races left.

"You have helped me so much to achieve this dream, I cannot thank you enough," Hamilton told his team over radio. "To the fans, thank you for reminding me who I am. I couldn't have done this without you."

Mercedes polesitter Russell came in 19 seconds behind Hamilton, with Norris completing an all-British podium — the first since the 1968 United States Grand Prix. Russell, pre-season favourite for the championship, had been complaining about bad luck recently but got some good fortune when Antonelli retired, cutting the gap to the teenager to 53 points.

"Good to be back on the podium and have a clean race, but Ferrari were mighty today so we need to keep pushing," said Russell. "The pace today was insane from Lewis, they're coming I think."

With track temperatures hitting 51 degrees Celsius, Hamilton opted for a three pit-stop strategy that worked perfectly. The third stop came fortuitously during a virtual safety car period, giving him fresh tyres while others had to wait.

Ferrari's heavily upgraded car was likely fast enough for Hamilton to win anyway. He dominated from the start, holding off Russell on softs and cutting off Antonelli at the first corner.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fourth, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar in the other Red Bull. Charles Leclerc, in the second Ferrari, started 10th after a qualifying crash he called "ashamed" but fought up to sixth before retiring.

Early drama saw home favourite Fernando Alonso retire due to a suspected battery issue in what he said was probably his final Barcelona appearance. That brought out the virtual safety car that helped Hamilton.

Hamilton took an early pit stop on lap 12, swapping softs for hards. Mercedes responded the next lap with hards for Russell. With Hamilton 2.3 seconds behind, he told his team "we are on Plan C" — the three-stop strategy.

He pitted again on lap 28, with Mercedes not following because of the threat from Lando Norris on a two-stop plan. Antonelli moved right behind Russell, forcing Mercedes to call Russell in first for fresh hards, then Antonelli. That handed Hamilton the lead, with Ferrari telling him this was the "critical time" for his race.

The virtual safety car for Alonso's retirement gave Hamilton a cheap stop. He emerged with fresh rubber 2.6 seconds ahead of Russell with 24 laps left. In clean air, he stretched his lead comfortably.

Late drama sealed it when Antonelli retired from second place on lap 62, blowing the championship wide open. Hamilton's victory was sweetened by that retirement, cutting the title lead significantly.