Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari announced themselves as title contenders with a dominant win in Barcelona.
Ferrari have been told they must throw their full support behind Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 title challenge if they are to have any chance of stopping Mercedes this season.
The Silver Arrows won each of the first six Grands Prix of the year, and it was widely assumed that George Russell was the only driver capable of challenging teenage teammate Kimi Antonelli, who arrived in Spain on a streak of five consecutive victories.
However, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona produced a dramatic shift in momentum. Ferrari’s upgrades delivered a significant performance boost, allowing Hamilton to demonstrate race pace that neither Mercedes driver could match. The seven-time world champion secured his first victory for Ferrari and, after Antonelli suffered an electrical failure late in the race, cut the championship deficit to 41 points.
Hamilton’s victory capped a remarkable run of form. Following back-to-back second-place finishes in Monaco and Canada, the Briton finally claimed his maiden Grand Prix win for the Scuderia and appears to have found his rhythm in red.
While Hamilton has been surging forward, teammate Charles Leclerc has endured a frustrating period. The Monegasque has failed to finish each of the last two races, with his difficulties beginning in Canada when he struggled with brake issues. Although he still managed to leave Montreal with 16 points, Leclerc later blamed the braking problems for his crash at his home race in Monaco.
Even after switching to a brake setup more closely aligned with Hamilton’s, Leclerc’s fortunes failed to improve in Barcelona. He crashed during qualifying before suffering a race-ending power steering failure during Sunday’s race.
With 30 points now separating Ferrari’s two drivers, 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Ferrari should take a step Mercedes currently cannot and prioritize Hamilton’s championship ambitions.
“Lewis knows how to win, and he knows what it takes. And if he gets a sniff of it, there won’t be any quarters,” Villeneuve said.
“I think that’s where he can make the difference. Mercedes right now are not in a position to be able or allowed to choose a driver over another. Ferrari is because Ferrari has to focus on Lewis if they want a small chance of winning, so the decision is easy to make because Leclerc is quite far back in the championship.”
Hamilton endured a difficult first season with Ferrari, while Leclerc was widely praised for extracting the maximum from an underperforming car. Now that the balance has shifted, Villeneuve remains unconvinced that the Monegasque will be able to respond strongly enough to halt Hamilton’s growing title charge.