F1 in Spain: A classic battle can be exciting

Do you understand yet?

The seven-year world championship was severely damaged by the introduction of low-powered cars in 2022. Those cars made more power from the shape of the ground (not their wings and diffuser) and had very little suspension. It is safe to say that Hamilton did not agree with them. Last year, he won eight races, taking his career tally to 103. He did not win at all in 2022 or 2023, although he did win the British Grand Prix in 2024, then took victory in Belgium two races later when George Russell was disqualified.

In 2025, Hamilton left Mercedes, where he had won seven of his seven races, to compete with Ferrari. But the result in the Ferrari results it was worse than Mercedes did, and at the end of the season, many critics asked if it was time for the driver to retire.

The 2026 car is Hamilton’s favourite. It’s smaller, lighter, and sleeker, and the power plant floor is gone. It is closely related to their driving style, which involves slow, heavy braking before turning the car into a corner. Above all since he managed to convince the team management that it was worth upsetting his long-time partner Brembo – a relationship that spans 50 years – to switch to the brake pad company, Carbon Industrie.

Lews Hamilton was successful in Spain.

Credit: Jay Hirano/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Boosted by second place in Canada as well MonacoHamilton looked a little lost during the second of Friday’s two sessions, having abandoned his car during the first lap of Ferrari junior Dino Beganovich. But on Saturday, Hamilton was very much at home in the car and missed out on the pole to former Mercedes teammate Russell by less than a tenth of a second.

Despite Hamilton’s success, conventional wisdom had the silver Mercedes cars as favourites. Kimi Antonelli finished third, another victory in Monaco, but Leclerc’s Ferrari was 10th after the crash, unable to support his team-mate – or challenge him for the lead – at the start of the race. Mercedes seem to have ignored Ferrari’s early advantage; in Canada, Monaco, and now Spain, his cars were going fast when the lights went out.