@LewisHamilton scores maiden @ScuderiaFerrari victory at #BarcelonaGP as #Antonelli retires. #F1

Hamilton Barcelona GP Victory – Seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton scored his first victory for Ferrari outfoxing Mercedes at the Barcelona GP beating George Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris who completed the top three. Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine failure on lap 63.

 

 

Although Ferrari’s initial choice to start the seven-time world champion on soft tyres didn’t help him take the lead on lap one, they gambled on a three-stop strategy which worked out to perfection as Hamilton gained a free stop under a Virtual Safety Car.

 

The Briton delivered a series of brilliant laps to gradually increase his lead over the Silver Arrows and clinch his first win in almost two years.

 

This was Hamilton’s 106^th-career Grand Prix victory and his seventh at the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya and brings him well into the title fight.

 

The gap between Antonelli and Hamilton in the World Driver’s Championship standings is down to 41 points as the sport heads to Austria in a fortnight.

 

When the 66-lap Catalan GP began, pole-sitter Russell got a good start to immediately cut Hamilton off into the first corner as behind them Verstappen managed to split the McLaren’s jumping ahead of Piastri to move up into fourth.

 

Leclerc also made his way up into seventh place after starting tenth.

 

The beginning of the second tour saw Russell’s lead at 1.1 seconds over Hamilton with Antonelli a further two seconds down in third, Norris fourth, Verstappen fifth, Piastri sixth, Leclerc seventh, Lawson eighth, Hulkenberg ninth as Lindblad completed the top ten runners.

 

In the battle for 13^th on lap three – Hadjar had just made a sweeping move on Sainz around the outside of the home favourite.

 

Replays showed Hadjar have a terrible run off the line at the start narrowly avoiding Leclerc.

 

The fourth tour – Race leader Russell had fresh air and is on the right tyre compound – the C3 mediums and as a result, he was flying. The Briton was over two seconds clear of Hamilton and if he could continue this pace, he would be out of undercut range with Ferrari having to pit Hamilton sooner to get him off those softer compounds.

 

Lap five – Audi’s Hulkenberg and RB’s Lindblad were both under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The other driver to have a bad start was Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto.

 

The sixth tour – Russell has extended his lead out-front to 2.4 seconds over Hamilton. Antonelli was a further second behind, and the Italian had dropped Norris who was 2.5 seconds adrift.

 

Lap seven – Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll pitted and is wheeled into the garage becoming the first retiree of the race due to a gearbox issue.

 

On lap eight – The front three have dropped Norris, who had Verstappen, Piastri and Leclerc for company. Then there was another gap to Lawson and a small gap behind Sainz before you get to the Haas pairing.

 

Leclerc made a move around the outside of Piastri through the sweeping turn three on the run down to turn four to take sixth place off the McLaren driver.

 

The ninth tour – Hadjar was trying to fight back after that bad start, The Frenchman was right behind Lindblad in the battle for tenth place. Then he had to fight back past Hulkenberg and Lawson.

 

Lindblad attempted to defend down to Turn 1, and Hadjar had to opt out of the move.

 

Lap ten – Russell was now three seconds clear of Hamilton, and he was making reasonably good progress. The same could not be said for everyone else – Norris had radioed to say he was sliding everywhere. Rear grip was really a limiting factor at the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya, and the undercut could be powerful here.

 

On the 12^th lap – Hamilton boxed to get off his softer tyres and put on a fresh set of hards and emerged in seventh behind Piastri as Lawson also pitted for a set of the C2’s and came out in 19^th place.

 

The 13^th tour – Race leader Russell reacted to Hamilton’s stop and came on in fifth place crucially in-front of Hamilton as Verstappen also pitted for a set of the medium tyres to emerge in ninth place behind team-mate Hadjar.

 

Lap 14 – Norris pitted from second place for his set of C2’s and came out in sixth place behind Hamilton as Hulkenberg boxed from ninth and came out in 15^th place behind Lawson.

 

On the 15^th lap – Antonelli pitted from the lead for his fresh set of hards along with Piastri doing likewise and both came out in fourth and eighth respectively.

 

Leclerc lead the race from Russell and Hamilton as a result of the stops.

 

Lap 16 saw Hadjar pit from seventh and came out in 11^th – also on a set of C2 harder rubber.

 

The 17^th lap, Leclerc pitted for his fresh set of harder tyres and behind Verstappen and ahead of Piastri.

 

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas became the second retirement of the race with an issue TBC and Russell was back into eighth.

 

The 18^th tour – Russell lead by just under two seconds to Hamilton having lost a little time being undercut by the Ferrari.

 

Antonelli was third and he had lost out by staying out longer, the championship leader was six seconds back.

 

Norris was fourth in-front of Verstappen, Leclerc was ahead of Piastri and Lindblad was up to eighth having not stopped yet.

 

Lap 19 – Now that they were on the same tyre compound, Russell was finding it harder to drop Hamilton – that gap hovering around 1.9 seconds. Antonelli was starting to chase back, he took four tenths out of the top two last time around.

 

The 20^th lap – Russell’s lead was at two seconds over Hamilton with Antonelli third, Norris fourth, Verstappen fifth, Leclerc sixth, Piastri seventh, Lindblad eighth, Hadjar ninth as Lawson rounded out the top ten runners.

 

Ferrari have been harder on their tyres this season compared to Mercedes – could Hamilton reverse that today and force Russell to use too much of his tyres was the question? That gap up-front was staying steady at just under two seconds.

 

Further back, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto had been told to switch places with team-mate Pierre Gasly.

 

Lap 22 – Mercedes said they were in a tyre saving phase – so Antonelli checked whether he could still push. “Affirm Kimi, looking good,” said race engineer Bono.

 

The Italian was now four seconds behind Hamilton, so he had taken two seconds out of the Ferrari driver since coming back out from the pits.

 

Meanwhile, race leader Russell was told the next seven laps were crucial to his race.

 

The 23^rd tour – Antonelli was just 3.3 seconds behind Hamilton. The front two are starting to pick up traffic too, in the form of Cadillac’s Sergio Perez as Alonso pitted out of the way.

 

Lindblad also pitted finally from ninth and came out in 16^th, as Cadillac said Bottas’ retirement was a precaution.

 

The 25^th lap – Ninth placed Lawson was fighting hard to keep Hulkenberg behind – the German was looking racy, and Gasly had caught up and was now in the battle too which justified Alpine’s decision to swap their drivers.

 

Lap 26 – Up-front, Russell was just 2.4 seconds in-front of Hamilton. he had taken a few more tenths out of his former team-mate, but he could not drop him fully and was now quite out of comfortable undercut range yet.

 

The 27^th tour – “Front feels a bit weak, underbalanced,” said Russell. He had cleared Perez and managed to do so at a good place which had bought him a few more tenths.

 

On lap 28 – Hamilton pitted for a second time and now with a fresh set of C3 medium tyres and emerged in seventh place behind Piastri.

 

Lap 29 – Russell remained out. He led from team-mate Antonelli and McLaren’s Norris, Hamilton made his way ahead of Piastri to move up into sixth place.

 

The 30^th tour – Verstappen boxed for a fresh set of the C2 harder compounds and in seventh place behind Piastri.

 

“Lewis will be on a three, we are still racing Norris so we need to keep these lap times up,” Russell was told by race engineer Marcus Dudley.

 

Antonelli meanwhile received a black and white flag for track limits.

 

Lap 32 – Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg became the third retiree and boxed due to a power-unit issue – This promoted Gasly into the points.

 

Leclerc let Hamilton through to put him into third place.

 

The 33^rd tour – Antonelli was crawling all over the back of Russell in a battle for the lead.

 

Antonelli was much happier on the hards than his team-mate at this stage of proceedings.

 

It was a half look, but Antonelli forced Russell to slam the door shut. The duo were only 11.7 seconds in-front of Hamilton – who we do think had to stop again. Antonelli was told “not to take any risks” thanks to his track limits warning.

 

Hadjar had just stopped for a set of hards and came out in eighth place behind team-mate Verstappen.

 

Lap 34 – Russell lead by less than a second to team-mate Antonelli. Norris is third, and he was only 3.8 seconds back and in with a chance here.

 

Hamilton was fourth, just 11 seconds back. “AM I catching them?” Hamilton asked, and he was assured he very much was.

 

Lap 36 – Norris pitted for a fresh set of harder compounds and came out in sixth place behind team-mate Piastri as race leader Russell was told to box.

 

The 37^th lap – Russell relinquished his lead to team-mate Antonelli – the Briton put on a set of the harder tyres and came out in fourth place behind Leclerc as Piastri stopped.

 

The 38^th tour – Antonelli came in for a fresh set of the C2’s and emerged in fourth place and crucially ahead of Norris.

 

Lap 39 – Leclerc was told to box and later on in the lap Russell managed to squeeze his way ahead of the Ferrari driver.

 

Leclerc bolted on a set of the harder compounds and came out in sixth place behind Verstappen.

 

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 41 as Alonso became the fifth retirement of the race and stopped at turn nine.

 

Verstappen stopped for a set of mediums under the VSC and emerged in fifth place behind Norris.

 

Hamilton took the opportunity to pit under the VSC just before it ended and came out crucially in-front of both Mercedes.

 

Lap 43 – “You are in front,” Hamilton was told.

 

“Great job guys,” the seven-time world champion replied as he led the race, pushing hard for a first Ferrari victory in red.

 

His lead was 2.5 seconds and he was on younger tyres than second-placed Russell.

 

The 44^th tour – Hamilton lead by 2.9 seconds from Russell, who had a charging team-mate of Antonelli on his tail. Norris was fourth in-front of Verstappen, Leclerc was sixth and then followed Piastri, Hadjar, Gasly and Colapinto.

 

Could Hamilton hold on? He was quick on the mediums but what does he have on the hards was the question?

 

Hamilton was noted for a yellow flag infringement by the race stewards.

 

Lap 45 – In clean air, Hamilton was increasing his lead. It was up to 3.9 seconds, and he had no traffic in-front – Hadjar was the next up the road, and he might not even catch him by the end of the race.

 

Alonso had a suspected battery issue, that was why he had to retire the car by the way.

 

The 46^th tour – Hamilton was flying, he was 4.6 seconds clear. Antonelli was trying to catch team-mate Russell, but they were both six tenths off Hamilton’s pace.

 

Norris cannot be discounted either, he was just 1.6 seconds back.

 

The top four have a big lead over fifth-placed Verstappen.

 

Lap 47 – Hamilton was doing everything he can here to pull a gap in case he gets a penalty. That yellow flag infringement was noted, not under investigation at this stage of proceedings.

 

There was no further investigations for Hamilton’s yellow flag infringement.

 

The 49^th tour – Hamilton was flying with the gap at 6.6 seconds over Russell.

 

Albon had un-retired his car by the way and come back out eight laps down on the leaders.

 

Lap 50 – Hamilton lead by over seven seconds. Russell was second, Antonelli third and Norris fourth.

 

Then there was a big gap to Verstappen and Leclerc, before Piastri, Hadjar, Gasly and Colapinto round out the points at this stage of proceedings.

 

The 51^st lap – Norris was told that Antonelli ahead had that black and white flag and was encouraged both to finish within five-seconds of his rival but also see if he could pressure the championship leader into a mistake.

 

Norris was 1.3 seconds behind Antonelli.

 

The 52^nd tour – “You are doing a good job,” Hamilton was encouraged by his Race Engineer. He was nearly nine seconds clear of Russell.

 

Lap 53 – Antonelli said on the radio that he had more pace. In response, Russell was told to pick up the pace.

 

The 54^th tour – Norris was told that Antonelli “should” get a penalty as they reckon he had been off the track again.

 

If Antonelli did get a penalty he would lose third place – hence why Mercedes could switch their drivers to let Antonelli pull a gap.

 

Lap 55 – Hamilton lead by 11 seconds. Antonelli was 1.1 seconds behind Russell, and Norris was 1.3 seconds back on the Italian. Tight for the podium places, but the win had driven off down the road courtesy of Hamilton’s rapid race pace.

 

The 56^th lap – Hamilton was 11.3 seconds in-front of Russell.

 

Behind, Antonelli was struggling with his neck and was resting it between the corners.

 

Lap 57 – Race leader Hamilton was 12.3 seconds clear now as the laps continued to tick down.

 

The 58^th tour – Antonelli was just 1.011 seconds behind Russell, so could get overtake mode next time around. The championship leader’s tyres were only one lap fresher.

 

Norris behind had been told to drop back, cool his tyres before attacking again. As such, he was 2.1 seconds back.

 

Lap 59 – Antonelli looked to be struggling with his neck, but Hamilton wasn’t – he looked fresh as he continued to charge to a first Ferrari win.

 

“I’m happy where I am, leave me to it,” said Hamilton, who held a 13.5 second lead.

 

The 60^th tour – Further back, Hadjar pitted for some softer compounds. The Frenchman had a ‘free’ stop so remained in eighth.

 

Out-front, Antonelli was just seven tenths back and had Overtake Mode.

 

The 61^st tour – Antonelli was closer, he pulled out down the main straight, Russell pushed him wide, Antonelli almost dipped a wheel on the grass, but Antonelli did not yield and he took second into the opening corner.

 

Russell tried to fight back, but Antonelli shut the door.

 

Antonelli was up into second.

 

The 63^rd tour – Antonelli’s F1 W17 entry came to a sudden halt bringing out the VSC. Leclerc also had a problem, The Monegasque driver had been off through the gravel and had been on the radio saying he had lost his power steering.

 

Leclerc made it back to the pits, as the championship was blown wide open by this situation. Antonelli had just lost 18 points.

 

The 64^th lap – Hamilton lead and did not pit. Russell was second, Norris third as Leclerc’s SF-26 entry was retired.

 

Verstappen was up to fourth in-front of Piastri, Hadjar, Gasly, Colapinto and Lawson.

 

When the VSC came in on the penultimate tour – Hamilton was leading by nearly 19 seconds over Russell as he chased down a first Ferrari Grand Prix victory.

 

Hamilton crossed the line to capture the Barcelona GP victory, and the Scuderia’s first victory since the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix and ahead of Russell and Norris.

 

Verstappen took fourth in-front of Piastri who placed fifth and Hadjar who ended the race sixth in the other Red Bull.

 

The two Alpine’s of Gasly and Colapinto followed in seventh and eighth respectively whilst the two RB’s of Lawson and Lindblad completed the final points places.

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2026 Barcelona GP – The Top Three

 

 

2026 Barcelona GP Winner – Sir Lewis Hamilton, #44, Scuderia Ferrari HP, SF-26 – (25 Points):

“First, I have to start to say a huge grazie to everyone here, everyone back at Ferrari, Fred for believing me and bringing me to this team. It seemed impossible, the team continued to lift me up, we made so many improvements. And I have the best fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for. They are all special in their own way, but this one is something else. I watched Ferrari have all this success when I was younger. Everyone has worked so hard for this, everyone deserves it. This is the first I hope of many. Forza Ferrari.”

 

2^nd Place – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – +19.561s – (18 Points):

“A huge congrats to [Hamilton] as he works so hard and really deserves this. Good to be back on the podium and have a clean race, but Ferrari were mighty today so need to keep pushing. Last stints were difficult, but good to be back here. The pace today was insane from Lewis, they are coming, I think.”

3^rd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL40 – +23.719s – (15 Points):

“First of all, I want to congratulate Lewis, happy for you mate. We gave ourselves a chance if anything happened, we got a bit lucky with Antonelli. [We need] a little bit of everything at the minute. These guys are just doing a better job, so we need to keep working hard and keep putting in the effort.”

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Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio De Barcelona-Catalunya 2026 Race Results Classification (66 Laps)

 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	66	1:32:28.105	25
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	66	+19.561s	18
3	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	66	+23.719s	15
4	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	66	+40.497s	12
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	66	+58.661s	10
6	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	65	+1 lap	8
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	65	+1 lap	6
8	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	65	+1 lap	4
9	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	65	+1 lap	2
10	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	65	+1 lap	1
11	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	64	+2 laps	0
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	64	+2 laps	0
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	64	+2 laps	0
14	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	63	+3 laps	0
15	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	62	DNF	0
16	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	61	DNF	0
17	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	60	DNF	0
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	55	+11 laps	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	37	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	29	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	15	DNF	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	5	DNF	0

 

* Provisional results.

FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRAN PREMIO DE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA 2026 – RACE RESULT

Click here for the 2026 F1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

Round eight of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the famous Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria for the Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026 from Friday June 26-Sunday June 28, 2026.