Even the most successful F1 driver in history needed to get down on his haunches to catch a breath amid the feeling of overwhelmingness | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Picture this. A 41-year-old veteran, seven-time World Champion and a winner of 105 previous race victories jumping up and down in celebration after throwing himself onto his mechanics stationed near parc ferme. The top step on the podium is something he has seen regularly in his 19-year career. Yet, there was a fresh, childlike delight for Lewis Hamilton when he romped home to victory at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

Obviously, emotions will run high when you snap a 686-day wait for a race win. But this was something more. Even the most successful F1 driver in history needed to get down on his haunches to catch a breath amid the feeling of overwhelmingness. And as his passionate Ferrari garage belted out the Italian national anthem at the podium celebrations, there was a stray tear that trickled down the cheek of the legend.

“I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV. And as I’ve been racing here, I’d always watch the screens and wonder what it’d be like to win in that car and it’s come,” Hamilton said after the race win.

“I started out [with] a dream last year, which seemed almost impossible during my time last year, but we never gave up hope and the team just continued to lift me up. We made so many changes and we made so many improvements. And on top of that, I have the greatest fan base a sportsman could ever ask for,’ he added.

And truth be told, this win had been coming. Back-to-back second-place finishes in Canada and Monaco had propelled the Briton to second place in the driver’s standings behind runaway leader Kimi Antonelli. After a difficult first season at the Scuderia where he struggled to bed in with the ground effect cars, the 2026 regulations seem to have provided Hamilton with the reset he needed. A new race engineer, a lot of work behind the scenes aligning the car setup to his habits and some renewed energy seem to be doing the trick for him.

Hamilton looked a level above everyone else at the Circuit de Catalunya. Powered by Ferrari’s aggressive three-stop strategy, the former Mercedes driver was hot on the heels of pole sitter George Russell throughout the first half of the race on a track where drivers struggle to maintain the rear tyres in the right window due to the high track temperature. A perfectly-timed Virtual Safety Car allowed Hamilton to retain the lead with a cheap pit stop but judging by the pace he demonstrated in the final stint, he would have caught up with his former teammate and checked out in front irrespective.

Teammate Charles Leclerc’s day wasn’t as rosy, though. The Monegasque driver failed to finish the Grand Prix for the second week running, right after signing a new multi-year deal with the Prancing Horse. Since Hamilton’s arrival, Leclerc has been the lead driver of the team and had comfortably outperformed his senior partner. But the tide seems to be changing now. The eight-time race winner is already 40 points behind his celebrated colleague and in his words will need a ‘perfect’ remainder of the season to make the gap up.

There was trouble for Antonelli too. The Mercedes engine gave up a few laps from the end, leaving him with no points from the weekend, allowing Hamilton to close down the gap in the driver’s standings to 41. The young Italian still carries a significant advantage, but with Ferrari’s regular updates reducing the gap to Mercedes every weekend, and with the vast majority of the season still lying in front, the quest for an unprecedented eighth crown is surely on.

Published on Jun 14, 2026