Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton executed a three-stop strategy to win the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Having inherited the lead on lap 38 after opting for an early undercut in his second stop on lap 28, Hamilton benefited from a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) during his final stop to clinch his first victory since the 2025 Chinese Sprint.
Speaking post-race, Hamilton spoke of his pride to finally win a Grand Prix with Ferrari after a tough first season at the Scuderia in 2025.
“This is an incredibly special moment. Winning my first race with Ferrari is something I’ve dreamt about since I was a child, and to finally achieve it feels incredible. There were moments last year when this moment felt almost impossible, but I’m so grateful to Fred for believing in me and everyone there for making me feel so at home.”
Mercedes’ George Russell finished second on his 100th start for the Silver Arrows ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris after Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s power unit blew on lap 62, having passed Russell for second a lap earlier.
Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, Isack Hadjar, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completed the top ten.
In the driver standings, Antonelli’s title lead was cut to 41 points by Hamilton as the latter begins to dream of an unlikely title challenge.
At lights out on his 100th start as a Mercedes driver, Russell headed Hamilton, Antonelli, Norris and Verstappen, whilst Hadjar slipped from sixth to 14th due to a slow getaway.
Up front, the frontrunners settled into a stable pattern until Hamilton triggered the first wave of pit stops on lap 12 which led Russell to pit to cover him off successfully, as the top five retained position once the first pit-stop phase played out.
Charles Leclerc meanwhile jumped Piastri into sixth during the stops once everyone pitted, with Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad the last to pit on lap 23.
The frontrunners again settled into a tyre management phase until Hamilton opted to pit at the end of lap 27 to switch from hard to medium tyres, which saw Mercedes gamble on their ex driver running a three-stop strategy as they left Russell out.
Russell however struggled with his front tyres in the second stint which allowed Antonelli to close in on him, whilst Hamilton was able to lap two seconds quicker until Mercedes pitted Russell on lap 37.
Antonelli followed suit a lap later to cover off Norris but Mercedes’ gamble on Hamilton’s strategy backfired when Alonso stopped on lap 40 at turn nine with a battery issue.
Stewards consequently deployed a VSC under which Hamilton stopped on lap 42 and rejoined in the lead from Russell to complete his three-stop strategy, which left him clear to cruise to his first Grand Prix victory as a Ferrari driver.
Hamilton’s win also was the first non Mercedes-powered victory across sprint and Grand Prix formats this season, and Ferrari’s first win in a Grand Prix since Carlos Sainz won the 2024 Mexico City GP.
Antonelli cleared Russell on lap 61 for second but his power unit blew a lap later to seal an all British podium for the first time since 1968 US GP.
F1 now heads to Austria across the weekend of 26-28 June for the Austrian GP in the first of a double-header, followed by the British GP at Silverstone from 3-5 July.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 66 | 1h 32m 28.105 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 66 | + 19.561 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | Mercedes | 66 | + 23.719 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 66 | + 40.497 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 66 | + 58.661 |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 66 | + 1 Lap |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 65 | + 1 Lap |
| 8 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 65 | + 1 Lap |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 65 | + 1 Lap |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 65 | + 1 Lap |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 64 | + 2 Laps |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 64 | + 2 Laps |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 64 | + 2 Laps |
| 14 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 63 | + 3 Laps |
| RET | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 62 | Hydraulic |
| RET | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 61 | Power Unit |
| RET | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 60 | Mechanical |
| NC | Alex Albon | Williams | 59 | + 8 Laps |
| RET | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 39 | Battery |
| RET | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 30 | Power Unit |
| RET | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 15 | Mechanical |
| RET | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 66 | Gearbox |