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Motorsport

Ed Hardy

Lewis Hamilton's Barcelona GP win a "middle finger" to doubters - Lando Norris

Lewis Hamilton Lando Norris Ferrari George Russell Mercedes Barcelona Charles Leclerc Kimi Antonelli Andrea Kimi Antonelli Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton produced one of the feel-good moments of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign by claiming his maiden victory for Ferrari at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion made a blockbuster move to the Scuderia in 2025 after 12 legendary seasons at Mercedes, but his debut year didn’t go as expected.

A frustrated Hamilton suffered the first podium-less campaign of his 18-year career to finish sixth in the championship in 2025, 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc and facing doubts over his future.

But the 2026 regulation switch has witnessed a rejuvenation from the 41-year-old, who’d been knocking on the door of victory with back-to-back runner-up finishes before his Barcelona win.

The victory leaves him second in the championship to Mercedes successor Kimi Antonelli and Hamilton’s 106th career win was no doubt the talk of the paddock in Catalunya.

Various drivers were asked about the Ferrari man’s success and here is how they responded.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

The roles have kind of reversed at Ferrari this year, because 2025 was incredibly strong for Leclerc. But recent rounds have seen him go on an opposite trajectory to Hamilton. Barcelona was his second consecutive non-score following the Monaco crash, as the power steering on his car suddenly went late in the Catalunya contest.

It was already damage limitation for Leclerc, who was en route to finish sixth after his Q3 crash that caused him to start 10th. “He's been incredible in the last three weekends,” said Leclerc.

“He's been really on it and he deserves all of it. Now it's up to me to up my game, to find this confidence with this car, to put everything together, and hopefully with clean weekends.

“It's true also that the last four weekends haven't been very clean technically. Also, for me, we've had quite a lot of issues, so I'm just looking forward to our clean races, taking the rhythm again, and hopefully fighting the front as well.”

George Russell, Mercedes

George Russell finished runner-up to Hamilton in Barcelona after a late retirement for team-mate Antonelli, who suffered an engine failure. Russell spent his first three seasons at Mercedes as Hamilton’s stablemate and was no doubt full of praise for his fellow Briton.

“Congrats to Lewis,” Russell told Sky Sports. “He had a really, really impressive race and a really impressive day yesterday. I don't think we expected to see that sort of pace from him and Ferrari. So, it was special to see him back on the top step.”

It was Hamilton’s first victory since the 2024 Belgian GP where he actually crossed the line in second behind Russell, who was later disqualified for an underweight car.

“We both grew up as fans of Lewis,” Russell later said in the press conference, sitting alongside Lando Norris. “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 and he's going to be a real threat.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Antonelli’s late retirement handed a podium to reigning world champion Lando Norris, who last year became the first McLaren driver to take the title since Hamilton in 2008.

“It's pretty special,” said Norris. “The last few weekends he's certainly seemed to have upped his game and as much as it was something we once could kind of take advantage of, and try and make the most of, it seems like he's making the most of what he's got now.

“It's cool to see. I grew up as a fan of Lewis, I don't know if I would still say I'm like that kind of fan, but I'm still a fan of him and as a seven-time world champion, it's always a pleasure to see those kinds of things. And with Ferrari, it's even cooler to kind of see that partnership come through and pay dividends as it is doing now.

“I hope he's not this fast the whole season, because it would be nice if we could battle a bit more, but good for him. 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.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Max Verstappen finished the Barcelona Grand Prix in fourth and his four consecutive world titles seem like a distant memory now considering the pace of the 2026 Red Bull car. The first of his championships though, in 2021, came after a fierce year-long battle with Hamilton that went down to the final day.

“Congratulations,” said Verstappen, when asked about Hamilton’s victory. “It's always super special to win, even when you've won already so much. To win with Ferrari for the first time, I think it's always a special moment.”

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

The championship leader was of course the man to take over from Hamilton at Mercedes and that was a huge task, given he was also making his F1 debut as a teenager. Antonelli had a rocky debut campaign, but always received support from the world champion and that is still seen today with Hamilton visibly pleased for the 19-year-old whenever he wins a race.

In Barcelona, Antonelli returned the favour: “I feel very empty but I'm truly happy for Lewis because, first of all, we have a great relationship and he's always been there for me. To see him achieving one of his dreams, which was to win with Ferrari, was very, very cool to see.

“So, I'm very happy for him and I hope he will enjoy it,”

Carlos Sainz, Williams

One driver who wouldn’t have been best pleased by Hamilton’s Ferrari move would be Carlos Sainz, whose seat he was taking. The Spaniard had won four grands prix across four seasons at Ferrari and proved himself to be a real contender at the front, but due to the driver market for 2025, he had to drop into the midfield with Williams. In Barcelona, he finished 12th.

“It shows that this sport has no secrets,” he said of Hamilton’s win. “We all have a very high level of talent, but with different driving characteristics. Some cars suit us, others don't.

“The real virtue of a driver is being able to adapt and being able to take whatever Formula 1 car you're given and drive it at the limit. Something similar happened to me in 2022. At the start of the year, I had a Ferrari that I really didn't like. Then I managed to adapt, and in 2023 and 2024 I think I performed at a very high level.

“It can define your entire career. Suddenly you join a team with a car that doesn't suit you, and you spend three years unable to adapt, or the car never adapts to you, and you can look completely useless.

“Then you move to a team where the car is perfectly suited to your style and suddenly you look like a god. This sport is much more complicated than people think. Lewis also deserves a lot of credit for turning things around from last year to this year in the way he has.

“He's also benefited from the regulation change because if he'd been stuck with last year's car for another three years, maybe we wouldn't be seeing the Lewis we're seeing this season.”