{"id":736482,"date":"2026-06-14T16:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T16:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/736482\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T16:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T16:14:22","slug":"hamilton-celebrates-1st-victory-with-ferrari-after-winning-barcelona-gp-as-antonelli-breaks-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/736482\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton celebrates 1st victory with Ferrari after winning Barcelona GP as Antonelli breaks down"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTMELO, Spain (AP) \u2014 Lewis Hamilton\u2019s wait for a race victory with Ferrari is over.<\/p>\n

Yellow helmet still on, Hamilton pumped his fists and took a running leap into the arms of his fellow crimson-clad crew members after parking his Ferrari in the No. 1 spot on winner\u2019s row following his masterful race at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday.<\/p>\n

It had been a throwback, vintage Hamilton win. A victory that showed the seven-time champion, whose last title came in 2020, may just be back to his best at age 41.<\/p>\n

Hamilton thanked and thanked again his teammates, the engineers back in Italy, his family and his fans in an emotional celebration for the driver who once dominated the sport but hadn\u2019t won a race in nearly two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched Ferrari have all this success when I was younger and wondered what it would be like to win in this car. I\u2019m forever grateful,\u201d Hamilton said from the winner\u2019s podium while thousands cheered.<\/p>\n

His record-extending victory No. 106 may have also ignited a title fight with a Mercedes that looked untouchable following a rulebook overhaul this year and had won all six previous races.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are all special in their own way, but this one is something else,\u201d Hamilton said about the importance of a victory that ended a run of 40 races without a win, 30 of which had come since his move from Mercedes to Ferrari at the end of 2024. His last win had come at the Belgian GP in July of that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all starting to come together and I\u2019m just happy in my life,\u201d said Hamilton, who looks like a different driver from the despondent racer who struggled with Ferrari last campaign and never even reached the podium in a grand prix. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first, I hope, of many (wins).\u201d<\/p>\n

To sweeten the day for Ferrari, Hamilton was already cruising to victory when Kimi Antonelli, the F1 points leader, puttered to a stop on the track with just four laps to go when his Mercedes suffered an electrical shutdown.<\/p>\n

That ended the young Italian\u2019s incredible run of five straight wins.<\/p>\n

Antonelli still leads with 156 points after seven races, but Hamilton has closed the gap and has 115. George Russell guided his Mercedes to a second-place finish and now has 106 points.<\/p>\n

It was Hamilton\u2019s seventh win at this track, a record at Montmelo, and his first here since 2021.<\/p>\n

He was building toward this long-awaited victory with runner-up finishes at Canada and Monaco. He said he had set the \u201cfoundation\u201d with Ferrari before he qualified second ahead of Antonelli for the Barcelona race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you so much to help me achieve this dream,\u201d Hamilton said on team radio after crossing the finish line more than 19 seconds ahead of Russell. \u201cThank you for everyone pushing so hard at home, thanks to my family, and to my fans who continue to remind me who I am. I couldn\u2019t have done this without you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferrari outfoxes Mercedes with pitstop strategy<\/p>\n

Hamilton took advantage of fresher tires and a superior pitstop strategy by Ferrari to overtake the pole-sitting Russell.<\/p>\n

Ferrari opted for a three-stop race to give Hamilton fresher tires on a track that is known to be hard on rubber, especially with track temperatures at 50 Celsius (122 F). The quicker wheels had him slip ahead of Russell, who, like Antonelli, was on a two-stop plan, when a bit of luck sealed it for Hamilton.<\/p>\n

A stoppage by Fernando Alonso\u2019s Aston Martin brought out a virtual safety car, and Ferrari called in Hamilton for his final stop while his rivals couldn\u2019t push the pace, and he emerged in the lead with a fresh set of tires.<\/p>\n

Seeing Hamilton slip away, Russell was left to protect his position from Antonelli. They had jousted earlier in the race, before Antonelli eventually swept past.<\/p>\n

Moments later, it all unraveled for Antonelli when he stopped and his shot at 18 points vanished.<\/p>\n

Defending F1 champion Lando Norris was third in his McLaren, ahead of Max Verstappen for Red Bull in fourth. Oscar Piastri, who won here last year, was fifth in the other McLaren.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP auto racing: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/auto-racing<\/a><\/p>\n

\"HamiltonFerrari driver Lewis Hamilton, right, of Britain celebrates on the podium next to countryman Mercedes driver George Russell, second place, after winning the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joan Monfort)<\/p>\n

\"HamiltonFerrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates after wining the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fatima Shbair)<\/p>\n

\"HamiltonFerrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joan Monfort)<\/p>\n

\"HamiltonFerrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fatima Shbair)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTMELO, Spain (AP) \u2014 Lewis Hamilton\u2019s wait for a race victory with Ferrari is over. Yellow helmet still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-736482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}