The king is back! Lewis Hamilton's breakthrough in Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton has finally done it, winning his first race for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and thus ending a long wait for victory for both himself and the Scuderia. Neither party has managed to win since 2024, but they defeated Mercedes in Spain with an aggressive strategy and strong pace.

Hamilton started the race from second place after missing out on pole position by just 0.064 seconds. Ferrari made it clear from the outset that they were going on the attack, as they started Hamilton on soft tires despite track temperatures in excess of 50 degrees Celsius. He pitted for hards on Lap 12 and switched to fresh mediums on lap 28.

Hamilton opted for a three-stop strategy while his main rivals at Mercedes were on a two-stopper, and luck was on his side when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 41. He was in the lead at that point and as a result, gained a 'free' pit stop and kept his position.

He covered the 4.65-km circuit in a time of 1:20.122 minutes, setting the DHL Fastest Lap on lap 44, which was quite appropriate in view of his 44 shirt number. He went on to win his first race in red with a lead of over 19 seconds, exactly 30 years after Michael Schumacher's first Ferrari victory in Barcelona.

The seven-time world champion was in a very emotional state after achieving his 106th grand prix win, saying: "I was always looking at that red car, wondering what it would be like to win in it. It started out as a dream that seemed almost impossible during my time last year. But we never gave up hope." Thanks to this victory, he has now reduced the gap on championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 41 points, but he doesn't want to think about an eighth title just yet.