BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 14: Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari celebrates with his trophy on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on June 14, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Getty Images

At the 31st time of asking, Lewis Hamilton finally claimed his long-awaited first grand prix victory with Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Having started the race in second, the seven-time world champion had his first opportunity to challenge George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for the win as the Mercedes pair lined up in first and third respectively.

Ferrari gambled on a three-stop strategy for Sunday’s high-tire-wear race, and while their first strategy to equip Hamilton’s car with soft tires at the start didn’t quite pay off as they hoped, things turned out perfectly for the Briton in the end.

Midway through the race, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin had to stop on the track, triggering a safety car that played into Hamilton’s hands.

The Ferrari man, who was on a different strategy than Mercedes, produced some brilliant laps afterwards to gradually build a big gap from the lead, eventually taking the flag almost 20 seconds ahead of Russell and securing his first grand prix win in red.

The victory also marks Hamilton’s first in 686 days since Belgium back in 2024 when he inherited P1 from then-Mercedes teammate Russell and the first time he crosses the finish line first in 707 days since the British Grand Prix in the same year.

“Grazie a tutti Maranello, thank you so much!” an emotional Hamilton said on radio. “You helped me achieve this dream, and I can't thank you enough. Thank you to everyone for pushing so hard back at home. I'm so proud of you.

“Thank you to my family and thank you to the fans for continuing to remind me who I am; I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Speaking on his 106th grand prix win, Hamilton said in parc fermé, “They’re all special in their own way, but this one is something else. I watched Ferrari have all their success on TV when I was younger and wondered what it would be like to win in this car. I’m forever grateful and this is hopefully the first of many.”

Current championship leader Antonelli, who was eyeing a sixth consecutive victory in Barcelona, faced a late heartbreak when he suffered a DNF on lap 62 of 66 while running in second.

The Italian’s misfortune opened the door for teammate Russell to snatch P2 while Lando Norris in the McLaren took home third place, forming the first all-British podium since 1968.

“First of all, I’m very happy for Lewis because he’s been chasing that first win with Ferrari for so long and I'm really happy for him to see him succeed in that,” said Antonelli.

“I think if I could have made a move in stint two on George, [it] would have been a bit of a different race because, as I said, the pace was very good especially at the end of the stint.

“I feel like it maybe would have been very close with Lewis with the VSC, so maybe we could have fought but it is what it is.”

With this result, Antonelli’s points in the championship standings remain at 156 points, while second-placed Hamilton now sits at 115 points - 41 points behind the Mercedes youngster.

Russell’s second-place finish brought him to 106 points, trailing teammate and championship leader Antonelli by 50 points and is only nine points shy of Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari remains at 75 points in fourth following his own late retirement in Barcelona - his second in a row after suffering a DNF in his home grand prix in Monaco.

ForbesF1 2026 Calendar: Full Race Schedule And Sprint Venues