What the teams said – Race day in Barcelona-Catalunya

Ferrari

Hamilton could not pick off Russell into Turn 1 despite gambling on a soft tyre start. That left him pitting earlier than the Mercedes cars on a three-stop strategy. But he had a lot of pace on both the medium and hard tyres, closing in on Russell and was set to challenge for the win until a VSC stoppage handed him a cheap final pit stop. That saw Hamilton come out in the lead, and from there he was imperious as he galloped to a first Ferrari win by nearly 20 seconds.

Leclerc had a good getaway to climb from P10 to seventh, and picked off Piastri. He was fighting with Verstappen for much of the race, but a late power steering issue saw him retire the car, the second race in a row he has not seen the chequered flag.

Lewis Hamilton, 1st

"This is an incredibly special moment. Winning my first race with Ferrari is something I've dreamt about since I was a child, and to finally achieve it feels incredible. There were moments last year when this moment felt almost impossible, but I’m so grateful to Fred for believing in me and everyone there for making me feel so at home. We’ve been working so hard all year and so many things have changed over the past months, and today is the result of all that effort.

"I'm so proud of everyone, both here at the track and back in Maranello. The upgrades we brought this weekend performed exactly as we hoped, the car felt great, and the team executed everything perfectly. The pitstops were fantastic and every detail was handled brilliantly. I've been fortunate enough to experience many special moments in my career, but this one is different. Ferrari has the greatest fans in the world and seeing their passion, their energy and their support makes this victory even more meaningful. This is a day I'll never forget, and I hope it's the first of many wins that we can celebrate together."

Charles Leclerc, DNF

"There was an issue on my car towards the end of the race, and unfortunately, I had to retire early. Our team should be proud of the upgrades we brought to the car, which ramped up our performance to this level. Congratulations to Lewis for his first win with the team, he did a great job this weekend and put it all together today.

"I look forward to the next race now and hope we come back stronger in Austria with a clean weekend."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"This is a very good day for the whole team, for Lewis and for all the guys at the factory who are pushing flat-out all the time. This result is the best way to thank them. The past year and a half has been quite difficult, with plenty of ups and downs, so to win today is a huge push for us. It is a strong start to the European part of the season. Before this, we had two consecutive podium finishes in Canada and Monaco and now we can add the win, having had a strong enough pace to fight for pole yesterday.

"From lap 1, we knew tyre management would be the key and in that respect Lewis did a fantastic job all race long. He was in control of the situation, pushing when we asked him to. Our strategy was aggressive but that is what you can afford to do when you have the pace for the win. Charles was unlucky as he had to retire a few laps from the end but I'm sure he will be fighting for victories together with Lewis in the coming races.

"We start over again in Austria in a fortnight’s time, approaching the weekend in the same way we did here, keeping in mind that we were not nowhere two weeks ago and we are not world champions today."

Mercedes

Russell led off the line, with Antonelli slotting into third in the early stages. It soon became apparent their rival Hamilton was on a three-stop, with Mercedes facing a dilemma over which strategy to go for. They opted for two stops, but still lost out to a charging Hamilton under a VSC period. That left the Silver Arrows watching their drivers battle yet again, Antonelli making up six seconds to run right on his team mate’s tail. He managed to force his way past Russell into Turn 1 late on and looked on for second place, but almost immediately retired with a PU issue. That left Russell to finish second, and reduce his team mate’s lead in the standings.

Kimi Antonelli, DNF

"It is very disappointing to retire from P2, but these things can happen in racing. George suffered an issue in Canada and now it's happened to me; we know our reliability is something we need to work on and I am sure the team will be pushing incredibly hard to improve that. It's more important points that we've lost but we must remember that it is the first year of these new regulations and we are all learning quickly.

"Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton) on his victory today. He is a great driver and has been so much help in my career so far. I am pleased to see him up there once again as he really deserves it. I think we had the pace today to challenge him for the win, but the Virtual Safety Car came out at a bad time for us, and we didn't get to see how things would have played out.

"We have one week without racing before returning in Austria. We have seen our competitors take a step forward here this weekend and we will need to raise our game there if we want to fight for victory again. We will pick ourselves up, learn from this weekend, and come back stronger."

George Russell, 2nd

"Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton). He drove a really impressive race today after being incredibly quick in Qualifying yesterday. Coming into the weekend, I don't think we expected that pace from Ferrari, so we know we've got a challenge coming from them in the races ahead. We will be working hard to tackle that challenge and get back to winning ways.

"On my side, the race today was not straightforward. I was struggling with the tyres towards the end of my second and third stints; the Virtual Safety Car didn't help us either and it would have been a fascinating race with Lewis without that. I will take the positives from this weekend though. It has been clean from the very start and I come away with 18 points, which is 18 points more than I managed across Canada and Monaco!

"We will regroup in the week ahead and look to improve for Austria. We've got a big double-header coming up with Spielberg and Silverstone and I am already excited for it."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton). It has been a while since his last victory, and he has worked incredibly hard to earn the top spot again. We always say that if it can't be one of our two drivers then we hope it is him. Despite the Virtual Safety Car helping him at the final stop, he drove a great race and is a fully deserving winner. I am also happy for Fred (Vasseur). Being the Team Principal of Ferrari is not easy, and I am pleased for him as my friend.

"It is disappointing that we've suffered another reliability issue that has cost us a lot of points today. We know that we will need to improve this if we are to fight for both World Championships. It was George who suffered in Canada and today it is Kimi. We know that to finish first, first you have to finish, and we will be working flat out to make sure we improve our reliability.

"Today could certainly have played out differently. George's pace in the opening stint was superb and no-one behind could touch him. He wasn't as quick on the Hard tyre though and we were kept honest throughout by both Lewis and Lando (Norris). We have seen today just how competitive the field is, and we will not have this season our own way. We will need to redouble our efforts and come back stronger in Austria."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Despite getting a car on the podium, we leave Barcelona with a feeling of disappointment. We were not fast enough today and know that we can't afford to be retiring with a reliability issue.

"Both cars got off the line well despite being on the Medium compound and the first stint ran broadly to plan. Lewis (Hamilton) triggered the stops early and as we had to cover, that made a three-stop a little more attractive. Our simulations were still showing that a two-stop was the optimum strategy though.

"Through the second stint, we didn't have the pace to build a sufficient gap to Lewis to be able to cover his three-stop with George, so we elected to commit to the two-stop to keep track position. Lewis' pace on that third stint was strong, and we were losing a bit with backmarkers, then more time with our two cars interacting. When Lando (Norris) stopped on lap 35, we had to cover with both shortly after, which ultimately created the situation where Lewis was able to benefit from the Virtual Safety Car and come out in front rather than having to overtake on track.

"We'll be working hard to understand why Kimi's car stopped and similarly working out where we can find a bit more pace, as ultimately, we lacked the speed to control the race and that's what cost us the win."

McLaren

Norris was almost alongside Antonelli off the line, but had to pull out of the move and settle for P4. That is where he stayed, but he never lost touch with the front three and later in the race started to get really close to challenging Antonelli again. The current World Champion lost a little pace late on as his tyres went off, and looked set to finish fourth until Antonelli’s late retirement promoted him to the podium.

As for Piastri, he struggled for grip throughout the race, losing out to Leclerc early on. The Australian could not find more pace on the hards either, as he came home fifth behind Verstappen.

Lando Norris, 3rd

"First of all, huge congratulations to Lewis, it’s great to see him back on the top step, I’m really happy for him. It was a tough race out there today. I did absolutely everything I could to keep pace with the front runners, but they just had the edge on us. We made sure to stay right in the mix to capitalise on any opportunities, and while we ultimately benefited from some luck, I'm incredibly happy for the whole team to be back on the podium.

"Right now, we are just missing a little bit of everything to consistently fight for wins. We are making good progress and working exceptionally hard as a unit, but our competitors are doing a slightly better job at the moment. We have to give them credit, keep our heads down, and focus on our own development. I’m very pleased with the direction we’re heading in, and we will keep pushing hard to close that final gap."

Oscar Piastri, 5th

"A tricky day for us. We just struggled with grip and pace throughout the race, so we weren’t able to make any progress. The conditions today were also very different to Friday, where we felt a bit stronger. We need to do some work to understand why we found it so difficult.

"However, it is encouraging to see that on Lando’s side, we were able to be in the fight with Mercedes. The team were strong on pit stops, we had good reliability and we maximised what we could in other places. We'll review, take the learnings, and see what we can do going into Austria."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

"We saw a definite step forward today in our ability to compete with the front-runners, which is encouraging after the difficulties we faced in the last couple of races. It’s good news that we were able to stay with Mercedes, and we can take positives from our improved reliability this weekend. However, Ferrari has clearly made significant performance gains, with recent upgrades now positioning them as race winners. Therefore, as competitors, we know there is more to do.

"Our analysis is very clear: we are reasonably competitive in the high-speed sections but need to add aerodynamic grip to improve in the medium- and low-speed corners, where we are currently losing out.

"Today, the key differentiator in the race came down to tyre management. The way the car and driver interact with the tyres over a long stint is an area we must investigate and improve upon. Reviewing strategy is also an area to highlight as the three-stop option may have been the better route. However, ultimately Lewis Hamilton looked the strongest on the day with Ferrari in condition to contest at the front regardless.

"Our focus is entirely internal at the moment: we have a clear development path to add performance to the car and will continue to bring upgrades. We need to maintain these high standards and concentrate on our own trajectory, making sure we improve race by race to close the gap to the leaders.

"The team both trackside and in Woking have worked extremely hard over the last two race weekends while experiencing the range of ups and downs this sport presents. I'm proud of everyone’s commitment and resilience to work together in the McLaren way. We will now review the double-header before moving forward with our focus on the Austrian Grand Prix."

Red Bull

Red Bull gambled on softs for Verstappen off the line, and he held position as a result but could not gain on Norris. The Dutchman also three-stopped like Hamilton, but he did not have the pace to fight with the front runners today and inherited P4 after Antonelli retired. As for Hadjar, wheel spin off the line sent him from sixth on the grid to P14. But he did have the pace to fight with the midfield, pulling off a series of overtakes to climb back into the top 10. He also three-stopped, pitting late on due to having a large gap behind to play it safe in case of a late Safety Car.

Max Verstappen, 4th

“Today we just didn’t have the pace to keep up with the cars ahead. I was really just doing my own race as we were a little bit behind the guys that finished in front of me. As a Team we did everything right, it was the winning strategy, so we made the right call there with the tyres. We were just too slow compared to the cars ahead on each compound, unfortunately. We tried our best and put everything into it but ultimately the whole weekend was a bit tough for us. We do struggle more with these high energy tracks with high degradation and we just need to work on things and try to find more pace in the upcoming races."

Isack Hadjar, 6th

“I felt like I had good pace this weekend once we got to Qualifying and the race, but I had a shocker at the race start with so much wheelspin, so that’s one aspect I really want to focus on before Red Bull Ring. We could have fought with Oscar if we had a good start, so it’s a bit of a shame. I think we did way better than we thought we would this weekend given the track layout and conditions. Austria will be a better track for us, and we expect to have a stronger car. We just need to work on the starts."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"The race produced an accurate picture of where we are with our current package on this sort of track. Coming into the weekend, we knew that a power and high speed corners circuit like Barcelona would present a slightly more complicated challenge than other types of circuit. What we saw today mirrored the situation in qualifying, in that we could fight with the other top teams but we did not have the pace to challenge for the win today. To do that, we still need to find between four and five tenths. Nevertheless, we have made progress compared to where we were at the start of the season, although as always, the final tenths are going to be the hardest to find. Everyone in Milton Keynes is working flat out to bring further developments as we push to close this gap. Today, we picked up all the points that were available to us based on our pace: a very strong race from Max who was on a well-managed and quite different three-stop strategy to those ahead. As for Isack, after a dramatic launch which saw him lose several places, he stayed cool and fought back with some great overtakes and a strong pace to score good points. And from a Red Bull Ford Powertrains point of view it was great to see that all cars finished in the points."

Alpine

Alpine scored with both cars at the end of a frantic race in the midfield. Colapinto was initially ahead of Gasly when both were running outside the points, but the Frenchman had more pace and the team opted to swap their drivers. It was a good call, with Gasly chasing up to the back of the Lawson – Hulkenberg battle. He managed to get ahead of the Racing Bulls man, and his team mate did likewise with Alpine showing much stronger race pace than one-lap pace this weekend.

Colapinto's P8 finish became 10th place after a post-race time penalty was applied for a yellow flag infringement.

Pierre Gasly, 7th

“If someone had told me on Friday that we would finish in P7 in the race, then I definitely would have signed up for that! I am very pleased with today's race where we pretty much did everything right and put ourselves in contention to score points after a difficult starting position. In the end we benefitted from the VSC to switch tyres to the Hards and then, with some retirements in the latter stages, gained a few more positions. We're best of the rest again so another good result for the team and more important points for the Championship. From where we were yesterday, this is a big improvement, even if we're still having some issues which we are working hard to understand. It rounds off a really up and down week for all of us, highs and lows, and I am just glad it finished with another positive result. We know the gap is still too big to those in front, which we must keep pushing to close down. I am happy and now it's time for a mini break before focus switches to Austria in two weeks' time.”

Franco Colapinto, 10th

“It was a much better day today and a great reward for the whole team to score points with both cars, which is something we probably didn't expect earlier in the weekend based on the relative performance. The car felt much better in race conditions and the pace was there to fight those in front of us. We have really struggled with the car here, so to come away with the result we did is an amazing job. It was a tough race with the tyres and there was more degradation than at previous events, but as a team we made the rights calls and had smooth pit-stops, so we ended up in a good spot in the end. It was good teamwork all around both on and off the track and some good points to bring back to Enstone.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor

“It was a great comeback from the team today considering where we started the day. To go from starting well outside the top 10 to finishing with both cars inside the points. Our car seems to perform better and be more competitive on Sundays compared to Saturdays and we need to quickly find ways to improve our overall performance. Credit to both Pierre and Franco for their cooperation and working as a team to maximise our position in the race and score as many points as possible, which is always our number one priority. Finally, congratulations to Ferrari and Lewis [Hamilton] on the victory. It's great to see a champion like Lewis on the top step once again, so well done to them on a fantastic race.”

Racing Bulls

Lawson and Lindblad were both in the thick of the action off the line, the latter running wide onto an escape road. Lawson was then running in the points early on, keeping Hulkenberg at bay but wound up losing out to Gasly who gained a cheap pit stop under a VSC. Lindblad was the last to pit at the end of a very long first stint, hanging it out for a Safety Car that did not materialise. Both cars were running just outside the points, but both moved back into the top 10 thanks to the late retirements, meaning Racing Bulls recorded a second straight double points finish.

Both drivers then gained a position thanks to Colapinto's post-race penalty.

Liam Lawson, 8th

"It was a difficult race today. We came into it expecting to be more competitive, but unfortunately we struggled for pace compared to the cars around us. We were also unlucky with the VSC, which allowed Gasly to pit and come out ahead of us, making our race even more challenging. We’ll go away, review everything and look at what we could have done better to maximise the result. Despite today’s result, there are still plenty of positives to take away. We’ve shown strong pace throughout the weekend and the season so far has been encouraging. We’ve managed to score points in most races so far too, which is a testament to the hard work everyone is putting in. We’re in a good place as a team and there’s a lot to be optimistic about, so I’m looking forward to Austria and excited to see what we can achieve there."

Arvid Lindblad, 9th

"Overall, we had a decent day, and it’s a good result for the team to get both cars in the points once again after Monaco. That being said, we'll regroup with the team and see what things we could have executed better, as we lost some time during the race. We were fast during the second and third stints, but coming from so far back meant that it was more of a catch-up game opposed to really being able to utilise our pace to gain positions. Regardless, the team has given us a strong package, which I'm happy with. After the last few weekends where we raced in unique circuits, it’s been nice to show strong pace also here in Barcelona, which is more of a standard high-speed track. Hopefully, this means the car will be well-suited for upcoming tracks, starting with getting back to racing at the Red Bull Ring in two weeks."

Alan Permane, Team Principal

"There are mixed feelings following today's race in Barcelona. After a strong weekend, it felt as though we retreated a little bit in the race. The Alpines definitely had the measure of us today, but it also demonstrates that our ambitions and expectations are higher than what we achieved, with both cars in the points in P8 and P9 following Franco Colapinto’s time penalty. We were a long way off the pace of Alpine back in Miami, which also had some high-speed corners, so we've made a big jump since then. We'll certainly be looking at our Qualifying-to-race pace, which will form much of the work we'll be doing this week to see where we could've improved. Overall, it was a decent weekend, however we're always striving to do better, and the team will be working hard to make important adjustments ahead of Austria."

Audi

Hulkenberg was able to hold position at the start and was pushing Lawson hard in the early stages of the race. But he soon pitted with a power unit problem, which forced him into retirement and ended his quest to finally score points this season. Bortoleto had a dreadful start, dropping down the order off the line. That cost him a chance to fight for points as once again Audi missed out despite having what looked like a quick car this weekend.

Nico Hulkenberg, DNF

"It was a very unusual and unfortunate retirement. Liam ran slightly wide ahead of me and put a wheel into the gravel at Turn 12, which kicked up a lot of stones. Some of them hit our car and appear to have triggered the emergency safety switch, causing a complete shutdown of the system. Everything switched off instantly and that was the end of our race.

"It's obviously very frustrating because we were in a good position to fight for points. The pace we showed throughout the weekend was convincing and, after yesterday's qualifying, there was a genuine opportunity to come away with a strong result.

"Unfortunately, we leave with nothing to show for it, but this was simply a case of bad luck rather than a performance or reliability issue."

Gabriel Bortoleto, 11th

"It hasn't been the easiest race for us. We had a challenging start which ended up costing us a few positions on the first lap already. Then, unfortunately, I had a racing incident with [Esteban] Ocon: we touched when side by side, I got squeezed into the gravel and picked up quite a bit of damage, which I then had to manage for the rest of the race.

"Despite all of this, there are still some positives to take home from this first European double header: once again, we showed strong pace across all sessions. It's encouraging to see it on two very different circuits. Hopefully we can keep building on that in Spielberg in two weeks' time."

Allan McNish, Racing Director

“It was a very frustrating end to what had been a very good weekend for us as a team. Nico’s car shut down after Lawson ran wide and kicked up gravel, which struck the safety fire switch. That triggered an automatic safety function designed to shut the car down in an emergency situation. Nico was able to coast back to the pits, but unfortunately that was the end of his race.

“Gabi had a difficult start and didn't get off the line well. He ended up boxed in a group of cars and was pushed into the gravel where he picked up some damage to his car. From there, he was in recovery mode, fighting his way back through the field and ultimately finishing 11th, just outside the points.

“From the team's perspective, it had been a strong weekend up until the race. It's disappointing that we couldn’t convert the pace we showed into points, but the underlying performance was there. We will take the positives, keep working hard and now turn our focus to the next race in Spielberg.”

Williams

Albon’s difficult weekend continued, with the Thai driver off the pace at the start of the race. He wound up retiring midway through with a technical issue, only to come back out and complete some laps to gain more data. As such, he was not classified at the flag. Sainz did finish his home race, another to three-stop after a soft tyre start. But Williams just did not have the pace at what is a bit of a bogey track for the team.

Alex Albon, NC

“It's been a tough weekend, but I think we did learn some things. We were already struggling in the race before the camera issue - the tyre deg in this heat was really hurting us, and there's something deeper going on with the car that we need to get to the bottom of. When we had to pit to fix the camera, we used the time to make some changes and got back out there, but at that point it had become a testing session. It's been a run of bad luck recently, but we'll keep working to figure out what's wrong and come back stronger as a team in Austria.”

Carlos Sainz, 12th

“Overall, a frustrating weekend for the team. I had a very good start, strong tyre management and did everything I could with our race pace today. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to fight for points although I feel like we maximised everything the car had to give. Ultimately, we need to understand why this track exposes us so much and solve those core characteristics so we’re better prepared for other tracks like it.

“A huge thank you to the Spanish fans here. The support this weekend was something special, and I can't wait to race again in Spain, in Madrid, later on in the season.”

James Vowles, Team Principal

“An incredibly difficult Barcelona. The positives are that there is some evidence of what we need to review in terms of car setup and balance for future learning. Well done to Alex and Carlos, who really did a fantastic job all weekend to extract everything they could from the car. For Carlos there was potentially one more place in it if we had everything perfect and the VSC hadn’t come out, but that’s where the car pace lies and he did the best he could with it. In the case of Alex, we are going to thoroughly review his car because I don’t believe we are giving him the best package possible so we will dig into that to improve it for future races. This track is an outlier, we have Austria in two weeks, and our focus is on fighting back for points again.

“Well done to Lewis. I caught up with him in Monaco and it is great to see the spring back in his step. He drove a brilliant qualifying, and a brilliant race. Well deserved.”

Haas

Not to be for Haas in Barcelona-Catalunya. Ocon started too far back to make many inroads today, despite gambling with the soft tyres off the line. He wound up three-stopping on his way to the flag, but he did at least finish. Bearman did not, retiring for the second straight race – this time reliability costing the youngster. Haas need to analyse the data, and try and work on finding a set-up to suit their upgrades which is something they still seem to be struggling with at the moment.

Esteban Ocon, 13th

"It was a very difficult race. We didn’t manage to keep the tyres alive and make them hold the whole race. We had to do three stops because we couldn't hold the rear tyres, they were completely finished every time we were doing a stint. It was very painful and we tried to hold on, but we had no pace at the end of the race. We need to deep dive into the set up, I think we got it wrong this weekend from FP2 to now, so hopefully we can do something better in Austria."

Oliver Bearman, DNF

"It was tough, but we were expecting that. I don't think we were anywhere out of position, if anything we were further forward than we were meant to be with some good pace. Unfortunately, with a few laps to go I was running in P13, which would've turned into P11 with the two cars ahead retiring, and there was an issue with the car so we had to retire. We've got some work to do, it's been a tough weekend and we're going to put our heads together, figure it out and improve for the next race."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

"This weekend the car wasn't quick enough and I think operationally we weren’t good enough. If you look at part of the race where Ollie was on the hard tyre, his pace was decent, but from day one this weekend we didn’t operate at the level we should be operating at and that has had a knock-on effect into today. In the race, communication wasn't good enough. Yes, the car needs to be improved and be faster, but we're not getting the best out of it. As a team we need to look at ourselves and improve very quickly."

Cadillac

Bottas had a difficult weekend, after missing plenty of practice time with reliability issues. More problems hit the Finn in the race, and he called it a day very early on when the team retired his car as a ‘precaution’. That left Perez to fly the flag for the team, and he finished 14th in the end after three trips to the pits.

Sergio Perez, 14th

“Barcelona is the kind of circuit that exposes weaknesses, and from that point of view it gave us a very clear picture of what we need to improve. Every race we finish gives us valuable data and helps us better understand our limitations, particularly over the longer stints. It won’t be fixed overnight, but we’ve got updates coming in Austria that should help us make a step forward, with more developments planned after that. The important thing is that we understand the direction we need to take, and I’m confident we can keep making progress and move closer to the midfield fight over the next few races.”

Valtteri Bottas, DNF

“It’s been a tough weekend with several issues on my side of the garage. We had to stop the car in today’s race as a precaution. There are still positives to take as we seem to be a bit closer to the midfield in Qualifying and my pitstop was great. It’s good that we now have one weekend without a race, which presents the opportunity for us to get on top of these issues back at the factory. This is all part of the journey we’re on, so we’ll continue to look forward."

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal

“Going into the weekend we knew that Barcelona would be a much tougher track for us, reflecting where we are on pace right now. We nevertheless gave it every shot to race with the cars in front and achieve track position wherever possible. Checo continues our record of getting one car to the finish every time out, but sadly Valtteri experienced an issue early on and we retired from a precautionary standpoint. We now head to Austria, which will be a very different track yet again, but with some upgrades to come we are hopeful of continuing the solid progress demonstrated this year.”

Aston Martin

Not to be for Aston Martin, who called Stroll into the pits to retire the car at a very early stage. Alonso was able to complete his first stint, pitting very late for a second set of hards as he got to work battling the Cadillac of Perez. But he then parked up on the grass with a battery issue, to the disappointment of the home fans.

Fernando Alonso, DNF

“We had an issue with the battery and had to retire the car. We are struggling with our performance, and we know this is our situation until around the summer break. The support from the fans has been incredible this weekend and I want to thank them for everything. Unfortunately, we couldn’t give them what they wanted.”

Lance Stroll, DNF

“I had to retire the car because of a gearbox issue; I couldn't get third or fourth gear for the last couple of laps. We'll investigate it further after the race. We have a lot of things to work on, and we're focussing on our upgrade package which is due around summer break. Until then, we know things will continue to be difficult.”

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

“A difficult weekend came to an end with a DNF for both cars. Lance reported a gearbox issue, whilst Fernando had to stop due to a problem with the battery. We'll now regroup and look ahead to Spielberg.

“I want to thank all the Aston Martin Aramco fans here - it was nice to see all the green in the grandstands and we really appreciate the support. We'll keep pushing hard to hopefully give you more to cheer about in future races.”

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

”The Barcelona Grand Prix was one of the most interesting races since the start of the season, particularly with regard to tyre usage. Tyres played a central role: aided by pronounced degradation, due to the high temperatures and the choice of softer compounds compared to 2025, they became the key pieces in an intense game of chess, highlighting both the drivers’ skills and the teams’ strategic capabilities.

”The two-stop strategy proved very effective in terms of race pace, but the real winning move was the insight shown by some teams in opting directly for three pit stops on Sunday. Scuderia Ferrari, for example, chose to differentiate the strategies between its two drivers. Leclerc, starting from tenth position, pitted twice, while the decision to stop Lewis Hamilton three times delivered the Briton his first victory in red.

”By significantly anticipating the first stop compared to the recommended windows, the team maximised the undercut, forcing their rivals to respond on the same strategy. It was an option that Ferrari had likely already identified from the outset as the most competitive for Hamilton. The advantage was then managed all the way to the chequered flag, also thanks to the time gained during a Virtual Safety Car.

”No significant changes were observed in tyre behaviour compared to Friday’s second free practice session. Tyre management and track evolution helped to slightly reduce degradation in the final stints, as did the use of both sets of Hard tyres retained by some teams.

”The Medium was probably the most effective compound over race distance, offering an excellent balance between grip and degradation. The two Ferrari drivers demonstrated this in the third stint by adopting different strategies: before his retirement, Leclerc was unable to match his team-mate’s pace.

”All three compounds selected for the weekend were nonetheless used in the race. Even the Soft, despite its rapid performance drop-off, found a place in strategies, both at the start and in the closing stages, with mixed results.”