Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Tennis' 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic waved the chequered flag as Hamilton crossed the line
F1 CorrespondentPublished19 minutes agoLewis Hamilton's historic first victory for Ferrari in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix was a statement to himself as well as to the rest of Formula 1, and the watching world.
It answered doubts Hamilton admitted to having at times himself about whether he could still do the job at the pinnacle of the sport he once dominated.
It justified his decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari.
And it proved Ferrari could get back to winning ways after a period that was as difficult for them as it was for the driver who has delivered their first win since Mexico in October 2024.
The race turned on a virtual safety car that gifted Hamilton a cheap pit stop and ensured he would come out in the lead from Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
But Hamilton and Ferrari did not need the luck. Mercedes admitted after the race that the seven-time champion would have likely beaten them anyway. It would just have required him to pass their cars on track to do it. Such was his pace on fresher tyres, though, that there was little doubt he would have managed it.
It was painful to watch him at points last year, as he wrestled with the confusion created by his lack of pace. He called the season a "nightmare". He called himself "just useless". He suggested Ferrari should get another driver.
On Sunday, after soaking up the adulation of his team, fighting back tears on the podium, he revealed what he had gone through to get back to the place he belongs.
"After a year like last year," he said, "there were definitely moments that I was like, 'Sheesh, maybe it is true that, you know, when you get to a certain point, you lose it.' But I've proven that you don't. You always have it and it just takes work."
The criticism he had received had hurt him, he acknowledged.
"I mean, I'm only human," he said. "So, there's moments where I see the stuff and for sure there's moments where I allowed it to get to me and penetrate deeply."
He went away over the winter, turned off his social media, and set about resetting himself.
"The training that I put in was harder than I've ever experienced, to keep myself in good shape," the 41-year-old said, "because I think at the beginning of last year I got injured here, actually, and carried that for months.
"Just things that I know is to never second-guess yourself, never doubt yourself. You've got to continue to believe in yourself at the core. And those are the things that I've managed to reimplement into my mentality. I've rebuilt my mind to this point, to get myself back to where I was."
Hamilton is only the fourth driver in his 40s to win an F1 race since 1958, following Graham Hill in 1969, Sir Jack Brabham in 1970 and Nigel Mansell in 1994.
Few people know Hamilton better than Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal with whom Hamilton won six of his seven titles, during which time they became friends.
Hamilton's revival this year, Wolff said, was partly down to the work he had put in, partly down to the new cars this year suiting him more than the ones of the past four years, which had a different aerodynamic design.
Wolff even said he thought Hamilton's new relationship with Kim Kardashian had also played a part.
"Hard work," Wolff said, "and I think this is a car that is maybe different to the previous era cars with the bouncing, with the stiffness, maybe not easy to feel. And this is back to more conventional driving in terms of at least aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics.
"Obviously, the engine management is completely different, but you can see he's driving strong. The dynamics in the team look to be good between him and his race engineer.
"I saw him on the podium, on the telly. I mean, that face shows me that he's very happy.
"Maybe the girlfriend helps. Helped me to have a partner that you have a stable family life, and they seem to be getting on really well. I think it's all of those factors that put together the emotional and the personal and professional perspective. If they are in a good place, you win."
Hamilton does indeed look a different driver this year. Last year, he struggled compared with team-mate Charles Leclerc, renowned as one of the fastest drivers on the grid, especially in qualifying.
Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc only seven times last year across all qualifying sessions, over 24 grands prix and six sprints. And Leclerc was 0.15 seconds a lap quicker on average.
Hamilton had also been beaten by George Russell two seasons out of three from 2022 to 2024.
This year, he has looked much more at home. The ground-effect aerodynamics, and stiffly sprung cars, have been consigned to history. These new ones are more like the ones with which Hamilton had so much success.
In qualifying this year, Hamilton is 6-4 up on Leclerc and on average pace there is virtually nothing to choose between them.
Hamilton also seems to have had a galvanising effect on Ferrari. He demanded changes of the team, to the car for him specifically, but also in attitude and approach.
In doing so, his voice as a multiple champion was added to what team principal Frederic Vasseur, who was instrumental in bringing Hamilton to Maranello, was already saying.
"Me coming was a big shock to the system because I am very, very vocal," Hamilton said.
"If I see something that I don't think is right, or I push very, very hard, that's at the core of who I am and I'm relentless with it.
"And I think it's not easy to be on the receiving end of that when you're also juggling a whole organisation, you know, and a culture that in its own is set in a certain way."
Vasseur said: "The collaboration, we are improving. We know each other, at least Ferrari and Lewis, we know each other a bit more each day. And it's all a matter of details.
"I'm taking it as a mega good result, mega positive result. Good reward for everybody, for Lewis, for the team in Maranello, for the team on track. But it's not that the situation is completely different compared to last week."
Vasseur refused to take any credit for the rebuilt Hamilton of this season.
"I have zero merit on this," the Frenchman said. "It's more Lewis himself. He was able to come back after a tough moment of weekends. He was able to come back and do a full reset. To continue to push, to continue to come at the factory on Tuesday morning.
"This commitment is a huge support. Coming from a world champion, it's even more, I would say. It was also a huge motivation for everybody at the factory."
Hamilton's victory, in such convincing style, has inevitably raised questions about what he and Ferrari can go on to achieve.
The team entered this year with high hopes that the new regulations for chassis and engine could give them a chance to return to the front.
So six consecutive Mercedes victories at the start of the year, and the obvious fact that Ferrari's engine was lagging behind the best, were an unwelcome surprise.
The Ferrari car was as good as anything else in the corners - perhaps the best - but that was not enough to compete with Mercedes.
Barcelona changed all that. Ferrari introduced their second major upgrade of the year, to follow the first at the fourth race of the season in Miami.
And on a track where power is not such an important part in lap time, it made a critical difference.
Hamilton was left behind by Antonelli in Monaco a week ago, on a track where power is even less important. But this time he was the fastest driver in the race.
The win - in combination with Antonelli's first retirement of the year - puts Hamilton 41 points adrift of the Italian, and extends his lead over Russell to nine.
And under F1's engine rules, Ferrari have been granted two upgrades this season, Mercedes only one. The first could come, it is said, as early as the next race in Austria.
Hamilton has been seeking that elusive eighth title ever since he lost it in the controversy of Abu Dhabi 2021. To achieve it with Ferrari would be one of the biggest stories F1 has ever seen. Can he do it?
"With the way that the year started out, I have not really been thinking about it like that," Hamilton said. "I've not been thinking about an eighth.
"Mercedes have come out the gates with a blistering car and blistering pace, both drivers doing such a great job. We know we have this power deficit.
"There's going to be tracks where we go to with long, long straights where that makes it even harder.
"But we've got a great car at the core and if we keep adding performance and we can go through the corners quicker, maybe we can narrow that deficit down a little bit until we improve or until we close the gap on power."
Wolff said: "I'd rather not fight with him for a title because I know what he's capable of. If he smells blood, he goes. I've seen it many years where suddenly the Lewis Hamilton train started to go and then it's very difficult to stop it."
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