Raceday Recap: Lewis Wins in Barcelona!
Bienvenido a España para el 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix! This race weekend was full of surprises and the ultimate win that every fan was excited to witness. Let’s recap - vamos!
George Russell continued the streak of Mercedes domination as he took pole position on Saturday, but Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was not far behind, starting the race from P2. Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli started from the second row in P3, alongside McLaren driver Lando Norris in 4th. Max Verstappen qualified in 5th, followed by fellow Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar in 6th and Oscar Piastri in 7th. Liam Lawson took the 8th spot on the starting grid, with Nico Hulkenberg and Charles Leclerc as the 9th and 10th drivers that made it to the Q3 session. At the back of the pack were the two Cadillacs in 19th and 20th, followed by the two Aston Martins in 21st and 22nd, clearly the teams struggling the most due to mechanical issues. I can only hope that their engineers are able to work on the car and improve their performance ability before the end of the season!
George Russell celebrating after a successful Q3 lap to start from pole position. Photo courtesy of F1.
Lap 1 saw a normal race start, with Hamilton entering the first few corners faster than Antonelli, as Russell stayed in first. Isack Hadjar, however, was less lucky, dropping 9 places at the start. The Frenchman did begin to recover as he made his way back up the field on lap 3 by passing Williams driver Carlos Sainz. Tire degradation is an issue throughout the season, but especially bad in the Spanish heat. Because of this, most drivers started on mediums, but Hamilton was one of few drivers who began the race on softs. Predictably for Aston Martin, Lance Stroll retired on lap 7 after going into the pit lane but never exiting. On lap 15, it was announced that Alex Albon would be investigated after the race for his starting procedure, which resulted in his team receiving a €5000 fine. One lap later, Valtteri Bottas was told to retire the car due to a mechanical issue - predictable for Cadillac but still disappointing to hear. On lap 20, Alpine took a page from McLaren’s “papaya rules” book from last year, asking Franco Colapinto to swap places with Pierre Gasly, who (according to Colapinto) was not as competitive but was allowed to move into P11 anyways. This was when drivers began to take their first pit stops, including Lewis Hamilton. After his tire change, he took P6 from Piastri on lap 29.
Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg dropped out of the race due to an insane circumstance: Liam Lawson’s back wheels kicked up gravel that hit Hulkenberg’s car exactly where the kill switch was inside the chassis, forcing the car to shut down and the German to retire from the race. On lap 37, Albon entered the pits due to a technology issue, later reentering on lap 45 and crossing the finish line with a NC result: “Not Classified.” The cycle of pit stops allowed Hamilton to pull into P1 on lap 39, but also added pressure for him to keep the lead while also needing to swap his tires out. Then, a golden opportunity arose: Fernando Alonso’s car shut down in the grass on turn 9 of the 40th lap. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed, allowing Hamilton to save time in the pits and not lose his advantage! This was also beneficial as Hamilton was the only driver to pull off a 3 stop race, only possible because of the VSC protecting his position. Meanwhile, the Mercedes drivers were scrapping it out behind him. Antonelli took 2nd place from Russell on lap 61 by being very close on the inside line. However, his front wing was damaged and sacrificed in the process, and just one lap later, Antonelli’s car broke down mid-track. The championship leader DNF’d on lap 62 of 66, bringing the yellow flag back out. At the same time, Charles Leclerc’s power steering failed into turn 2, causing him to plow through the gravel and retire as soon as possible. Oliver Bearman silently dropped out of the runnings on lap 64 due to an unknown car issue that also occurred during Leclerc & Antonelli’s drama.
Lewis’ first win in red called for a huge celebration! Photo courtesy of BBC.
Although he had to resort to Plan C, Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix for an astounding victory, becoming Ferrari's 41st race winner. He won by a large margin, considering that all drivers who finished P6 and below were lapped by him at least once. George Russell settled for 2nd place, with Lando Norris taking the last step on the podium - the first all British podium since 1968. Max Verstappen ended up in 4th, with Oscar Piastri behind in 5th. Isack Hadjar took P6, Pierre Gasly claimed P7, and Liam Lawson crossed the line in 8th. Arvid Lindblad picked up a couple of points in P9, with Franco Colapinto completing the Grand Prix in P10 after receiving a 10 second penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags. A disappointed Kimi Antonelli ended up in 16th and was given a 5 second penalty for leaving the track limits repeatedly, even after multiple black and white flags were shown.
This weekend in Spain was incredible, from extensive on-track action to Lewis Hamilton’s 106th career win. I hope you enjoyed watching as much as I did, and thank you so much for reading! Don’t forget to follow @thewinningformmulablog on Instagram for fun and relatable F1 content, and we’ll be back in a few weeks to recap the Austrian Grand Prix.
Lights out and away we go!
Lucy xx
