Lewis Hamilton finally reached the chequered flag first on a Sunday for Ferrari, the seven-time World Champion taking a superb victory in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver went head-to-head with Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, showing impressive pace as Ferrari utilised a three-stop strategy to beat their rivals fair and square.
Antonelli, meanwhile, failed to see the chequered flag for the first time this season and lost 25 points to Hamilton in a title race, which has already taken another surprise twist.
With plenty of other talking points filling the weekend, here are all the key moments from the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix…
Hamilton finally wins for Ferrari
Heading to Spain with two consecutive second place finishes under his belt, Hamilton was optimistic in Barcelona, especially as Ferrari had brought further upgrades in their bid to close the gap to Mercedes.
Despite struggling for pace in FP3, Hamilton surprised many by qualifying less than one-tenth slower than Russell, the Briton splitting the Mercedes drivers on the grid.
With the order remaining unchanged over the opening lap, attention turned towards tyre management with the hot conditions meaning teams planned for a two-stop strategy. But Hamilton and Ferrari blinked first and threw themselves behind a three-stop strategy, allowing Hamilton to move into a healthy lead with a pit stop to serve.
Strong pace meant Hamilton likely would have at least challenged for victory had he rejoined behind Russell and Antonelli on fresher tyres, but a perfectly timed Virtual Safety Car allowed Hamilton to pit and rejoin just in the lead.
Romping away by nearly 20 seconds, the 41-year-old claimed his first Grand Prix win for the Scuderia, became the oldest driver since Jack Brabham in 1970 to win an F1 race and cut Antonelli’s points lead down to 41.
Russell takes second amid late Antonelli retirement
Antonelli entered the weekend on the crest of a wave with five consecutive wins under his belt and a 66-point lead in the Drivers’ standings. But having sat out FP1 for rookie Fred Vesti, the 19-year-old was on the back foot and qualified third, three tenths behind polesitter Russell.
Come the race, Antonelli appeared to manage his tyre degradation better than Russell and challenged his team mate at the end of the first and second stints, but it took until five laps from the end before the Italian was able to make a move at Turn 1 to take second.
But just a lap later, Antonelli was left stranded as his Mercedes suffered a mechanical issue costing him a podium position and allowing Russell to finish runner-up.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff was critical of the team’s reliability, and also questioned whether the intra-team battle had cost them victory, with Hamilton and Ferrari utilising a different strategy and revealing themselves as potential title challengers.
Norris completes podium for McLaren
Arriving in Barcelona, McLaren were far more optimistic about securing a strong result after they faced performance and reliability woes in Monaco. Their hopes proved to be well-founded as Norris topped the timesheets in FP2 by a margin of 0.009s over Russell, having also missed first practice while rookie Leonardo Fornaroli got behind the wheel of his MCL40.
He dropped behind both Mercedes drivers and Hamilton in Qualifying to wind up P4, albeit agonisingly close to beating Antonelli’s final lap time, and later accepted that McLaren would “have to push like crazy” to challenge their competitors up ahead.
Norris opted to target a smooth race rather than go all-out to gain positions, which helped him maintain fourth for the majority. That would have been a major improvement on his DNF in Monaco, but there was more in store as Antonelli slowed to a stop and retired from the race.
Norris joined Hamilton and Russell on the podium, making it an all-British affair for the first time since 1968 and registering his first top-three Grands Prix finish since Miami.
His team mate Oscar Piastri similarly benefitted from Antonelli’s retirement, as well as a late issue for Charles Leclerc to claim P5, but was left looking for answers after struggling to manage his tyres and match the pace of those around him.
Another disappointing Leclerc weekend
Leclerc seems to be enduring one misfortune after another, as the Ferrari driver suffered a second consecutive retirement in Barcelona. Although he was determined to move on from the brake issues that brought his home event in Monaco to an early end, the Ferrari man faced another stumbling block as he crashed at the beginning of Q3 on his first flying lap.
Heading out of Turn 4, a sudden snap led to an overcorrection and he was sent into the barrier, preventing him from setting a representative lap time. Ferrari were able to fix the damage without breaking any curfews and the Monegasque lined up in P10. The opening lap left him wanting more as he found himself jumping up by three positions.
He snatched another place off Piastri and ran sixth for most of the remaining laps before a mechanical issue sent him rattling over the gravel at Turn 2, with Leclerc quickly reporting that he had lost the power steering in his car.
With no option but to limp back to the pits and retire, he could only stand and watch as Hamilton rounded off his faultless race with the team’s first victory since the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.
F2 and F3 deliver plenty of excitement
Rafael Camara took his first win of the year in the F2 Feature Race for Invicta Racing, although he was made to work hard for the victory despite starting from pole. The long drag down to Turn 1 was his undoing, but the Brazilian then ran a longer first stint and used fresher tyres at the end to overtake three cars for a well-deserved win.
Nikola Tsolov initially took second with a fightback of his own, but was handed a post-race penalty which dropped him to fourth, meaning Alexander Dunne took second and Gabriele Mini third. The result leaves Mini in the lead of the Championship, six points clear of Tsolov.
There was a first time Feature Race winner in F3 as well, Theophile Nael claiming victory from pole for Campos Racing. His team mate was also on the podium, Ugo Ugochukwu taking third while Hiyu Yamakoshi took second for Van Amersfoort Racing. Ugochukwu remains in the lead of the Championship, six points ahead of Nael.
Famous faces on hand to witness Hamilton’s victory
There was a whole host of famous faces from the world of sport on hand to watch Hamilton deliver an emotional win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Novak Djokovic waved the chequered flag on Sunday as Hamilton’s Ferrari crossed the line, the tennis star managing to make it to the race before heading to London for Wimbledon.
Olympic medallists Chris Hoy and Steve Redgrave were also present at the track, Hoy presenting the pole position award on Saturday. Former footballer Patrick Kluivert was also on the grid, as he took in some F1 action before finding somewhere to watch the Netherlands play their opening World Cup game.
Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta opted to watch their fellow racers fight it out in Barcelona, both enjoying a weekend off after finishing 1-2 last time out. They resume their battle next weekend in Czechia. The F1 stars, meanwhile, get their own weekend off now, before tackling the Austria – Great Britain double header.
