Race Report: Hamilton stuns Mercedes at Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari stun Mercedes with a win at the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. Ferrari brought eight upgrades to Spain and they seemed to work a treat for Lewis who was already looking much more comfortable in this year’s specification car.

If you you’re a Lewis Hamilton fan and were hoping he could join Ferrari and usher in a dominant era, perhaps this weekend is a beginning of that story, time will tell. This could be circuit specific but it also might be the upgrades and a much more comfortable Lewis.

Win

A huge win for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari who made all the right calls and won by 20s so despite a cheap VSC pit stop, Lewis clearly had the pace to win even if he hadn’t benefitted from the VSC. Ferrari also got the strategy spot on which has been a challenge for them in recent seasons. Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees were the last all-British podium in 1968,

It’s not a complete win as he lost the lead to Lewis but George Russell needed a solid point haul against his teammate, Kim Antonelli, and he got that with the DNF for Kimi. Finishing P2 isn’t what he wanted and the bigger worry might be Ferrari’s sheer pace.

A win for Lando Norris in P3 for McLaren. They still lack pace to Mercedes, and now Ferrari, but to nab a podium finish with the Antonelli retirement is a good result.

A win for Alpine with both cars in the points in P7 and P8 for Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto respectively. The team swapped cars as Pierre was quicker and they were fighting for P10 but with Hulkenberg, Leclerc and Antonelli retiring, both Alpine’s were elevated. That is a good recovery.

A win for the Racing Bulls with both Liam Lawson and Arvid Linblad in P9 and P10 respectively. There were fighting for higher positions so it may be slightly cold comfort but it’s still points.

Fail

A fail for Charles Leclerc who struggled all weekend with a crash in qualifying then retired the car with a loss of power steering. IF Ferrari have made such a gain in development and pace, it seems lost on Charles and that’s something that will weigh on his mind. Something he has to get on top of.

A fail for George Russell who needed to take command of his title bid and pole position in Spain. He was beaten by Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli on track and inherited P2 with Kimi’s retirement. That’s good but it’s not the driving and result he really needed.

Fail might be a harsh term for Red Bull as well as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri but Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar and Oscar had no answer for a possible podium position. They all ran a lonely race (Hadjar struggling with an issue on the car).

A fail for Kimi Antonelli with a retirement. Seemed similar to what George Russell faced in Canada. Once Kimi got by George and into P2, he started to show pace that he might have had something for Lewis had he not been behind George for that long. Sadly, he lost a lot of points in the championship.

A galactic fail for Aston Martin with dual-DNF’s. A team in desperate need of development. An equally tough weekend for Williams who were simply no where in Spain.

WTH

Such a shame that Audi struggled with reliability as Nico Hulkenberg was on pace for points. It will be interesting to see if they can reduce the reliability issues along with their desire to claw more power out of their power unit with their ADUO tokens.

Not entirely sure why but Charles is really struggling with these cars whereas Lewis struggled with the ground effect spec last year. Maybe it’s brakes but even with the change in Spain to Carbon Industries, Charles still struggled for pace.

Haas had a tough race too and maybe that’s not a surprise but I do hope they can bring some upgrades to get them back in the fight for points against Alpine and Racing Bulls.

Pirelli Report:

DARIO MARRAFUSCHI – PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

”The Barcelona Grand Prix was one of the most interesting races since the start of the season, particularly with regard to tyre usage. Tyres played a central role: aided by pronounced degradation, due to the high temperatures and the choice of softer compounds compared to 2025, they became the key pieces in an intense game of chess, highlighting both the drivers’ skills and the teams’ strategic capabilities.

”The two-stop strategy proved very effective in terms of race pace, but the real winning move was the insight shown by some teams in opting directly for three pit stops on Sunday. Scuderia Ferrari, for example, chose to differentiate the strategies between its two drivers. Leclerc, starting from tenth position, pitted twice, while the decision to stop Lewis Hamilton three times delivered the Briton his first victory in red.

”By significantly anticipating the first stop compared to the recommended windows, the team maximised the undercut, forcing their rivals to respond on the same strategy. It was an option that Ferrari had likely already identified from the outset as the most competitive for Hamilton. The advantage was then managed all the way to the chequered flag, also thanks to the time gained during a Virtual Safety Car.

”No significant changes were observed in tyre behaviour compared to Friday’s second free practice session. Tyre management and track evolution helped to slightly reduce degradation in the final stints, as did the use of both sets of Hard tyres retained by some teams.

”The Medium was probably the most effective compound over race distance, offering an excellent balance between grip and degradation. The two Ferrari drivers demonstrated this in the third stint by adopting different strategies: before his retirement, Leclerc was unable to match his team-mate’s pace.

”All three compounds selected for the weekend were nonetheless used in the race. Even the Soft, despite its rapid performance drop-off, found a place in strategies, both at the start and in the closing stages, with mixed results.”

Spanish GP Results: