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Hamilton’s victory, in such convincing style, inevitably raised questions about what he and Ferrari could achieve.
The team entered this year with high hopes that new regulations for chassis and engines could give them a chance to get back to the front.
So six consecutive Mercedes wins at the start of the year, and the obvious fact that Ferrari’s engine was lagging behind the best, was an unwelcome surprise.
The Ferrari car was as good as anything in the corners – perhaps the best – but it wasn’t enough to compete with the Mercedes.
Barcelona changed everything. Ferrari launched their second major upgrade of the year, following the first at the fourth race of the season in Miami.
And at a track where power isn’t such an important part of lap time, it made a significant difference.
Hamilton was left behind by Antonelli a week ago in Monaco, at a track where power is even less important. But this time he was the fastest driver in the race.
The win – coupled with Antonelli’s first retirement of the year – moved Hamilton 41 points clear of the Italian and extended his lead over Russell to nine.
And under F1’s engine rules, Ferrari have been given two upgrades this season, Mercedes just one. The first may come, it is said, as early as the next race in Austria.
Hamilton had been searching for that elusive eighth title since the loss Debate on Abu Dhabi 2021 Achieving this with Ferrari would be one of the biggest stories F1 has ever seen. Can he do it?
“The way the year started, I didn’t really think about it that way,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t think about the eighth.
“Mercedes came out of the gate and at blistering pace, both drivers doing such a great job. We know we lack this power.
“There will be tracks where we go through long, long straights where it makes it more difficult.
“But we’ve got a great car at the core and if we keep adding performance and we can go through the corners faster, we can reduce that deficit a bit until we improve or close the power gap.”
Wolff said: “I’d rather not fight him for the title because I know what he’s capable of. If he smells blood, he goes. I’ve seen over the years where suddenly the Lewis Hamilton train starts going and then it’s very hard to stop.”
