LEWIS HAMILTON won his first Grand Prix in Ferrari red and broke his 686-day winless drought.
The seven-time world champion produced a pit-stop masterclass and blistering drive to stand on the top of the podium for the first time since Spa 2024.
He technically won the Belgian Grand Prix three-weeks after that but victory was handed to him post-race as winner George Russell was disqualified.
In Barca it was a glittering all-British top three on the podium as Russell came second and Lando Norris was third after Kimi Antonelli retired late on.
At the start, British 28-year-old Russell opened up an early advantage as he held off Hamilton at the start of the race.
But Hamilton hit back with an aggressive early pit stop on lap 12 as he replaced his soft tyres for the hards to begin his hunt for the win.
Mercedes were flustered and didn’t take any chances as they instantly brought in Russell for the same set of tyres.
Max Verstappen, Norris, Charles Leclerc and Antonelli all followed suit and the pack reshuffled to how it was before Hamilton’s stop.
Hamilton was told to trigger ‘Plan C’ by his team before pitting for a second time just 28 laps in for a second set of hard tyres.
The Ferrari driver swiftly moved into sixth and then fourth while Merc held their nerve and did not immediately respond to the Italian team.
Russell then had the whipper snapper Kimi Antonelli to think about as he was hot on his tail and less than half a second behind.
Half-way through the race, the two Mercs were squabbling over the lead with Antonelli all over Russell while Hamilton continued to chip away.
Hamilton had actually halved the deficit to the leaders in just six laps after his pit stop.
And the message over the team radio was: “You are catching really well. Keep pushing” as he zipped around the crucial laps.
Antonelli was given some gentle parenting by his race engineer Peter Bonnington as he was on his final warning for track limits and on the brink of a five second penalty.Both Mercedes then completed their second pit stop and Hamilton was back ahead.Hamilton was dealt the trump card when Fernando Alonso crashed out of his home race to prompt a Virtual Safety Car on lap 42.
It was perfect timing for Hamilton who was able to complete his third and final pit stop under that VSC, meaning he lost less race time while the rest of the field were running to a restricted lap time.
He rejoined the pack ahead of Russell and with the advantage of fresher tyres before flying off into the distance.
Fierce Antonelli then squeezed past his team-mate on lap 61 as Russell’s pace faded away.
But heartbreak struck for the 19-year-old moments later when he ground to a halt on the track with an engine fault as the VSC was called into action again.
Leclerc had followed suit and was also slowing down before limping into the pit lane and retiring while his team-mate stole the show.
Hamilton takes his record tally to 106 to complete an epic turnaround after the worst year of his career in F1.
He also cuts Antonelli’s title lead to 41 points after the Italian’s late retirement.
He said: “Grazie tutti Maranello.
“Thank you so much. You’ve helped me achieve this dream and I can’t thank you enough.
“Thanks for everyone pushing so hard back at home
“I’m so proud of you. To my family, I love you To my fans, thank you for continuing to remind me who I am. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Hamilton’s maiden Ferrari win also marked his seventh win in Barcelona, in the same place his only-equal in F1, Michael Schumacher, also won his first race for the Scuderia.
