F1 news: Lewis Hamilton secures maiden Ferrari win at Barcelona GP as Kimi Antonelli forced to retire

Lewis Hamilton secured his maiden Ferrari win at the Barcelona Grand Prix on Sunday as Mercedes’ winning streak came to an end after Drivers’ Championship leader Kimi Antonelli retired and George Russell finished in P2.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer Mosaddek Abu discusses the key takeaways from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Resurgent Hamilton claims maiden Ferrari win

Hamilton took his tally of career race wins to 106 after he saw the chequered flag for his first win in red.

The seven-time world champion has enjoyed a resurgence in 2026 so far, and it is no secret that he has found the current set of regulations more akin to his driving style compared to that of the ground-effect era, which – during his final years at Mercedes – he could not come to grips with.

With Hamilton becoming more competitive in qualifying and races, he had finished on the podium three times coming into the weekend: P3 in China, P2 in Montreal, and P2 in Monaco.

He has looked like the man who dominated during the peak years of the Mercedes dynasty.

On Saturday in qualifying, he finished in P2 but pushed former Mercedes team-mate George Russell in a close fight for pole position.

Then, on Sunday, he turned his P2 into a long-awaited grand prix win.

He had not seen the top step of the podium since he won the British Grand Prix in 2024 and had endured a tough first year with the Scuderia, but 2026 is turning out to be a lot better for the 41-year-old.

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Ferrari on winning track despite VSC

Fernando Alonso’s retirement on lap 40 meant that Hamilton’s 14-second lead would be enough margin to stop during the VSC period and come out ahead of the two Mercedes drivers behind him.

Hamilton checked out and built on his gap to go on and win the race, but Ferrari could have won it even without the VSC.

Antonelli and Russell would have been on old tyres due to their strategy difference, and with Hamilton running a three-stop strategy, he would have had a fresh tyre advantage.

The Mercedes men ran a two-stop strategy and couldn’t respond to Hamilton’s final pit stop as he was carving out two seconds per lap.

Ferrari came into the weekend with a major upgrade package, and it certainly paid off for them.

They ended Antonelli’s winning streak, had the fastest car, nailed the race strategy, and boasted a driver doing the perfect job on the track.

After 595 days without a race win, they came out on top.

Now Ferrari will hope to continue progressing within the new regulations to eventually pose a title threat.

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Russell gets lifeline in championship fight

Russell has yet to get a second win this season after winning the opening race of the season in Melbourne.

He has managed a few P2s, had a DNF in Montreal, and finished outside the points in Monaco.

The Brit started on pole in Barcelona, but after two stops and putting on the hard tyres, he wasn’t extending his gap.

The VSC then turned the race on its head, with Hamilton vaulting into the lead and Russell finding himself under pressure from Antonelli as the 19-year-old passed with five laps to go.

It looked like Antonelli was going to extend the gap further, but luck went against him as the car ground to a halt between turns five and six, forcing a retirement.

Russell took the lifeline to finish in P2 and reduce the championship gap to 50 points – but there’s no question that his performances need to start picking up.

Alpine, Racing Bulls enjoy continued success

Racing Bulls achieved P6 and P7 in Monaco and carried that form into the Barcelona race weekend.

Things ended up a couple of positions lower, P8 and P9, but it was a satisfying points finish for Red Bull’s sister team nevertheless.

Arvid Lindblad brought pace into the race that was good enough to secure another points haul, while Liam Lawson, who nearly lost out on points during the VSC period, capitalised on retirements to secure a good finish.

Alpine, meanwhile, had an up-and-down race weekend, but the luck of the VSC and a nailed-on strategic call managed to get Pierre Gasly inside the points.

The same goes with Franco Colapinto, although he struggled to match Gasly throughout.

Colapinto was actually demoted two places due to a time penalty after he finished P8, but P10 still left him in the points.

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Reliability a theme across the season

Antonelli and Charles Leclerc were the two biggest surprises in Barcelona, with both of their cars unexpectedly breaking down.

Given the new regulations and the need for teams to learn and develop, that was not surprising – indeed, we saw it with Russell in Montreal.

Alonso also had an issue that triggered the VSC, while Lando Norris had a power unit problem back in Monaco.

Teams clearly haven’t yet figured out how to get on top of things, and that is playing a huge part in the ongoing title fight between the two Silver Arrows and possibly Hamilton, who’s now only 41 points behind Antonelli.

As the season progresses, reliability will remain a theme, and there’s reason to believe there could be more breakdowns and early retirements until they figure out why it’s happening so frequently.

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