By Ella Keene
After a difficult weekend in Monaco, George Russell started strongly in first place and maintaining it into turn one, despite Hamilton sitting closely behind in second. With a positive start from his fellow Ferrari, Charles Leclerc moved up three places on lap one after starting 10th following his qualifying crash.
Isack Hadjar struggled on lap one falling to 14th after some difficulties with wheel spin and was overtaken by eight cars. He quickly worked to regain places, overtaking Sainz on only lap three.
Lance Stroll also had some bad luck, retiring only seven laps in proving the Aston Martin still has a way to go.
Hamilton made an early pit stop on lap 12 with an attempt for an undercut of his ex-teammate as Mercedes responded quickly on lap thirteen putting Antonelli in the lead with Russell and Hamilton sat in fifth and sixth.
The Italian Mercedes driver didn’t hold the lead for long, pitting on lap 15 followed by Leclerc on lap 17.
Meanwhile, Bottas lost the fight for last place as he retired the car, once again forced to sit on the sidelines.
Pit stops rearranged running and the battle for the podium returned to both Mercedes drivers and Hamilton, shortly followed by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg had a points finish in his reach and continues to fight with VCARB driver Liam Lawson for ninth until he was forced to retire due to engine issues.
Hamilton pulls the trigger on the second set of pits for everyone on lap 28 coming out in 7th place, eager to attempt the undercut again to get the top spot on that podium with Ferrari.
Hamilton’s speed continued to rise gaining a fastest lap and passing Piastri in 6th.
Antonelli put his teammate under pressure as he closed the gap to less than a second, but the threat from Hamilton loomed in the back as the gap to Russell began to close.
Mercedes pulled Russell in on lap 37 leaving him in 4th and Hamilton has swiftly moved up to second behind the other Mercedes – but not for long as Antonelli comes in on the following lap leaving the Ferraris in the top two spots.
Yellow flag on track for home star Fernando Alonso who’s stopped on the grass. Virtual safety car calls in the Red Bull of Max Verstappen followed by the Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton still hoping for that first-place podium.
Ferrari strategy plays off as he maintained the lead one fresh tyres compared to his competitor who didn’t pit under the VSC. Hamilton continued to grow the gap: the seven-time world champion found his mojo.
The battle for second and third continued as Antonelli is closely followed by Norris despite being on Russell’s tail himself. Antonelli lurked behind Russell as the team warn the Brit to pick up the pace, would they swap the Mercs?
No swap needed as Antonelli stuck the overtake on lap 61, pushing himself into second place and demoting the polesitter to third. But not for long as Antonelli slows to a halt on track bringing out a yellow flag and VSC as Leclerc also pulls into the pits with power steering issues.
With one lap to go the VSC pulls in leaving Hamilton sitting in first with a 19 second lead, followed by Russell and Norris.
The Brit breaks his own record as the F1 driver with the most wins setting the target at 106 now, also claiming his first win with the Italian team, their first win since 2024.
What felt like a very straightforward race changed in just a few laps marking another incredible Barcelona Grand Prix.
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