Lewis Hamilton celebrated an emotional first grand prix victory with Ferrari in Spain on Sunday to end Kimi Antonelli's five-race run of success and become, at 41, Formula One's oldest winner since Australian Jack Brabham in 1970.
The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix triumph was the British great's first win since Belgium in 2024, a record seventh at the Circuit de Catalunya and the 106th of the seven-time world champion's extraordinary career.
Italian Antonelli, the 19-year-old championship leader, retired five laps from the end and saw his lead over Hamilton slashed to 41 points. George Russell finished second for Mercedes with McLaren's Lando Norris third.
“Grazie a tutti a Maranello,” Hamilton said over the radio.
“Thank you so much. You've helped me achieve this dream and I can't thank you enough. Thanks for everyone pushing so hard back at home. I'm so proud of you.”
Hamilton delivered a brilliant drive to nail a three-stop strategy and capitalised on a perfectly timed virtual safety car to earn his first win since the Belgian GP – 40 races and 686 days ago.
Hamilton had vowed after securing back-to-back second-place finishes in Monaco last weekend that he would chase down Antonelli and the Italian's lead was slashed from 66 points to 41.
Russell had looked on course to secure his first win since the opening weekend, but Hamilton closed in during his third stint before a pit stop under the virtual safety car was the gift he needed to end his wait for victory.
It was the first Ferrari win since Carlos Sainz's success in Mexico City in 2024.
Norris finished third to seal the first all-British podium since 1968, ahead of Max Verstappen.
It was a baking-hot grid, with a track temperature of 50°C at lights out, helping force multiple race strategies.
Hamilton started from second on soft tyres after securing his best qualifying result as a Scuderia driver on Saturday.
It could have given him the edge off the line, but Russell held the seven-time world champion at bay on the lengthy 598m dash down to turn one, with Antonelli fending off the challenge of Norris to hold third.
Russell opened up a commanding advantage. Hamilton pitted early on lap 12 of 66 and Mercedes reacted by pitting Russell the following lap, both taking hard tyres.
Norris also came in, but race leader Antonelli stayed out. Russell was nervous, telling his engineer: “You could have given me a heads up, you've exposed me to Kimi now!”
Russell and Norris made their second stop on lap 36, with Antonelli a lap later, emerging just behind his teammate but with the reigning world champion now right on his tail.
Hamilton now held the lead and was told he had seven laps to his next stop. “This is the critical moment, give everything, we have our chance,” race engineer Carlo Santi told him.
Lucky break
Fernando Alonso stopped on track on lap 41, causing a virtual safety car, and Ferrari pitted Hamilton.
It was a gift for Hamilton, who came out with a two-second advantage. He was noted for a yellow-flag infringement but was soon cleared as he pulled away at the front in pursuit of that long-awaited win.
“I'm just happy in my life, so I'm in a good place. I love doing what I do. There's no greater feeling than racing a Formula One car,” said Hamilton.
“There is a long, long way to go and they (Mercedes) have still got great pace, as you can see. But we are going to keep working and trying to close that gap. It's not over, that's for sure.”
