Hamilton wins his first grand prix for Ferrari at Barcelona as Antonelli retires

Lewis Hamilton's first grand prix win for Ferrari came in the closing laps of the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. The BBC's report on the race captures both a turning point in Hamilton's year-and-a-half-long transition to Ferrari and a bitter day for Mercedes' young driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Hamilton qualified third. At the start of the race, the McLaren of Lando Norris — second behind leader Antonelli — slowed in the middle stint with minor front-wing damage, and that gave Hamilton sustained clean air. The strategic call that mattered most was Ferrari's decision to keep Hamilton on a single stop instead of converting him to a two-stop during the middle pit window.

On lap 45, smoke from Antonelli's Mercedes triggered alarm on television and at the pit wall. Mercedes said afterwards that the team had to withdraw the driver for a "engine safety check." The 19-year-old Antonelli was forced to finish the race at the side of the track after the engine had failed. It was the second pointless race of the season for him.

Hamilton's move to Ferrari, announced in early 2025, was widely debated in the world's press. A driver in his late 30s, with seven titles, ending his long association with Mercedes for Ferrari was assessed as both nostalgic and risky. Through the middle of his first season some commentators questioned his form; by the end of that year there were signs the driver was bedding into the team.

Ferrari's technical structure has also worked in Hamilton's favour. Team principal Frédéric Vasseur made the aerodynamic re-design of the car for 2026 — particularly closing the slow-corner gap — a priority. Hamilton's performance in Barcelona is the first tangible sign of that work paying off.

In the second half of the race, Charles Leclerc tried to make it a Ferrari double on the podium, but George Russell's Mercedes locked down third after Antonelli's retirement. Leclerc settled for fourth; no team-order discussion was needed because Hamilton and Leclerc were several laps apart by then.

On the podium Hamilton looked calmer than the cinematic moment suggested, and put the meaning of the win plainly: "I had been dreaming of this victory for years. I came to Ferrari because this was the only place where I could live this victory." The line tracked closely with what Hamilton had said when he left Mercedes.

The championship picture is more complicated after Barcelona. Norris still leads; Hamilton, with Russell, sits second and third. With nearly half the season remaining, how Hamilton fares from here depends on Antonelli's return, McLaren's mid-season form and Ferrari's development.

For Mercedes the season has added a fresh technical setback to the structural issues that became visible last year. Antonelli's talent is undisputed, but reliability is now dragging the team backwards in the title fight. Toto Wolff's post-race remarks suggested Mercedes is planning a thorough redesign of the engine block for 2027.

For Ferrari, the Barcelona win is symbolic. The team's last drivers' title came in 2008; meaningful upper-grid results have been scarce in the years since. Hamilton's signature had promised to open a new chapter; Barcelona is the first concrete return on that promise.

The next race is the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton has nine career wins at the Montreal circuit; a chance to build momentum at a track where he has historically been strong has turned into a junction that could shape the rest of the season.