Hamilton says Barcelona win beyond wildest dreams

Lewis Hamilton's triumph in Barcelona marked Ferrari's first grand prix victory since Mexico 2024

Published 9 hours ago

Lewis Hamilton confessed he was at a loss for words to convey the significance of his inaugural win for Ferrari following his success at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion, now in his sophomore campaign with the Scuderia, triumphed ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and McLaren's Lando Norris.

This result represented the first all-British podium in Formula 1 since the 1968 United States Grand Prix, which was claimed by Sir Jackie Stewart ahead of Graham Hill and John Surtees.

Hamilton endured a challenging debut season with Ferrari, never reaching the podium across the 24 races, although he did secure victory in the sprint race in China.

He remarked: "How do you find the right words to express an emotion that's beyond your wildest dreams?"

The 41-year-old was already poised to defeat Russell and Kimi Antonelli even prior to a virtual safety car period midway through the race, which allowed him to pit and rejoin in the lead without having to battle past the Mercedes drivers.

Hamilton recounted that as he embraced his Ferrari crew after the race, his "heart was exploding with joy".

Championship frontrunner Antonelli retired from second place with four laps remaining, elevating Norris to third.

Sir Jackie Stewart celebrates his victory in the 1968 US Grand Prix, the last occasion when British drivers occupied the top three spots

Hamilton's victory combined with Antonelli's retirement reduced the Italian's advantage in the drivers' standings to 41 points.

Both Russell and world champion Norris paid homage to Hamilton.

Norris commented: "Pretty cool. It's pretty special. It's nice. And with Ferrari again, it's even cooler to kind of see that partnership come through and kind of pay dividends.

"You could see how much it meant to him. At the same time, he's obviously had a lot of people talk badly about him and he's got a lot of crap online from a lot of people, so it's nice that he can stick the middle finger up to all of them."

Russell, who spent three seasons as Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes prior to his 2025 switch to Ferrari, stated: "We both sort of grew up as fans of Lewis and, you know, for myself, spending three years together in Mercedes, so much respect.

"It was a big, bold move to join Ferrari, and to see it now paying off for him is very special to see given the magnitude of the decision.

"To be standing up here, three Brits, first time in 60 years, it's a special feeling."

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The victory represented a moment of atonement for Hamilton, who endured personal and professional anguish last year.

On multiple occasions last year, Hamilton conceded to questioning himself as he grappled with adapting to teammate Charles Leclerc.

He concluded the 2025 championship 86 points behind Leclerc.

Hamilton expressed: "I truly believed in my decision in joining Ferrari. I truly believed in what this team could achieve, what we could achieve together. And I know it started out with lots of excitement and then lots of doubt and lots of negativity that followed through a whole year.

"My fans really rescued me last year, my family also, and friends that stuck with me through it all.

"Starting into a new season, a new year, lots and lots of changes enabled me to get to this position that I'm in today. I just feel a lot of gratitude, a lot of pride, and very, very proud of the people that I work with.

"They're so passionate and have so much humility and they are so kind. And, you know, seeing them sing the national anthem today was, wow, was an incredible feeling, man. Just the best."

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Hamilton will already be thinking about next win