Lewis Hamilton returned to the top step of the F1 podium after 686 days, winning the Barcelona GP in commanding fashion. This marks the 7-time world champion’s first Grand Prix win since he joined Ferrari last year.
George Russell and Lando Norris finished second and third, respectively, making this the first all-British F1 podium since 1968.
- Hamilton wins, 19.561 sec ahead of Russell
- Antonelli, Leclerc suffer late retirements
Hamilton wins Barcelona GP
Ferrari’s decision to put Hamilton on soft tyres for the race start didn’t quite pay off, as polesitter Russell held on to the lead initially. However, the team’s decision to opt for a three-stop strategy ended up being the race-winning one.
As Russell and Antonelli pitted for the second time, Hamilton finally moved into the lead, but he still had one more pit-stop to go. However, Fernando Alonso’s retirement handed Hamilton the golden opportunity to pit under the Virtual Safety Car, and he re-joined the track still in the lead with 24 laps to go.
Hamilton pulled away from there on, crossing the chequered flag with a commanding 19.561 sec lead. "I started out 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,” said Hamilton.
“We made so many changes and we made so many improvements, and on top of that I’ve got the greatest fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for. Thank you, thank you to everybody."
Russell, Norris on podium as Antonelli retires
While Hamilton had the win locked in with a rather comfortable margin, the battle for the podium was far from over. With five laps to go, championship leader Kimi Antonelli passed his Mercedes teammate Russell to snatch second place. However, Antonelli stopped on track just moments later due to a late mechanical issue, ending his five-race victory streak. Soon after, Leclerc was also forced to retire after reporting that his power steering was broken.
Russell ended up crossing the line in second place, followed by Norris. Red Bull collected some strong points with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar finishing P4 and P6, respectively. The Red Bull duo was separated by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in P5. Alpine and Racing Bulls rounded out the top 10 with Pierre Gasly P7, Liam Lawson P8, Arvid Lindblad P9 and Franco Colapinto P10. Colapinto finished eighth on track, but was later handed a 10-second time penalty for a yellow flag infringement.
2026 F1 championship standings
As a result of his retirement, Antonelli’s championship lead has now been slashed to 41 points from Hamilton. Russell holds on to third place overall, but he’s now nine points behind Hamilton and 50 points behind Antonelli.
F1 will now head to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian GP on June 26-28.
Vishal Venugopal
