Lewis Hamilton triumphed for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with a magnificent drive to seal an emotional maiden win for the Scuderia. The veteran British driver and seven-times world champion ended a run of 40 grands prix without victory and denied his compatriot, second-placed George Russell of Mercedes, who was outmaneuvered by Ferrari’s three-stop strategy and his teammate Kimi Antonelli.

But there was intense drama behind Hamilton late on as Antonelli, the drivers’ championship leader, and his teammate Russell battled for second – with the Italian forced to retire straight after overtaking Russell with five laps left. Lando Norris of McLaren, as a result, rounded out an all-British podium, the first since 1968. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, having fought his way up the field from 10th on the grid after a qualifying crash, was forced to retire at the last due to a technical issue. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was fourth, Oscar Piastri fifth for McLaren, Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull and Pierre Gasly seventh for Alpine.

“Grazie a tutti, thank you so much, you’ve helped me achieve this dream, and I can’t thank you enough,” Hamilton said to the Ferrari team on the radio having taken the chequered flag. “To my family, I love you, and to the fans: thank you for continuing to remind me who I am.”

On Saturday, Hamilton had praised his Ferrari team for the performance upgrade they brought to Spain after very nearly snatching pole from Russell. He showed his enduring class with this performance and consolidated second in the drivers’ standings in front of Russell, frustrated again despite an excellent performance in practice and qualifying. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso, the 44-year-old Spanish veteran who first drove a single-seater here in 1994, was forced to retire for Aston Martin on what he had said would “probably” be his final race at the circuit. The virtual safety car resulting from Alonso’s retirement was significant in allowing Hamilton to assume the lead, then capitalise on his fresher tyres to streak away to victory.

The venue was sold out, with 301,273 fans packing into the baking Circuit de Catalunya across the weekend, and 124,870 attending Sunday’s big race. Formula One may have its issues – a fact demonstrated by the Monaco pit lane speeding saga in recent days – but a lack of interest from the paying public is not one of them.

Novak Djokovic was strolling around the starting grid in the standard pre-race scrum moments before Russell executed a perfect start and held off Hamilton into turn one, with Antonelli close behind the British duo.

Russell took early control as the top five initially stayed in order: Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, then Norris and Verstappen. The big mover was Leclerc, on a mission after crashing out in qualifying. By lap 10 he had gained four places to sixth, having skilfully overtaken Piastri. Hadjar, after a terrible start, had plunged to 13th.

Russell had built a lead of more than three seconds before pit stops came into play. Halfway through a race that had initially threatened to be a procession, Russell and Antonelli were suddenly duking it out for the lead, Hamilton having pitted from second place. Their boss, Toto Wolff, had set out the rules of engagement before the race. “For me, the primary thing is no contact,” said the team principal. “I think Antonelli’s going to be on the attack and that’s fine.”

Hamilton and Verstappen both opted for a three-stop strategy that saw the British driver – who loves this circuit and won five consecutive races here from 2017-21 – take the lead after 42 laps. “It’s the critical moment. We have our chance,” Hamilton was told on team radio just before.

Once Hamilton was in front he drove magnificently, leading Russell by 13sec on lap 58, while behind him Antonelli was pushing his teammate with Russell being told to pick up the pace on radio. As Hamilton streaked away at the front – leading by nearly 15sec with five laps to go – Antonelli and Russell continued to scrap, and the Italian pulled off a thrilling move to overtake his teammate after being forced wide at turn one.

No sooner had Antonelli stormed into second place he was grinding to a halt, with some damage visible to his front wing, but a power failure appearing to end his race. Leclerc suffered late heartbreak, too. The resurgent Hamilton, streaking to a sensational victory nearly 20sec in front of Russell, will sniff the possibility of an eighth world title after Ferrari’s marked improvement.