Lewis Hamilton finally wins in Red: "I dreamt of Schumacher's first victory with Ferrari."

Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory with Ferrari in Barcelona, ​​just like a certain Michael Schumacher 30 years earlier.

Lewis Hamilton has finally opened his account with Ferrari. And it was in Barcelona that the Briton secured his first victory in red, on a circuit steeped in history that had already hosted the first success of Michael Schumacher with the TeamIn 1996.

"I was just a child at that time, he told Canal + upon arrival. When Michael Schumacher won his first victory with Ferrari here in '96, I dreamed of what it would be like to drive a red car; I thought of the tifosi, the national anthem. Before adding: "It's bellisimo to win with Ferrari."

By winning in Barcelona, ​​securing the 106th victory of his career, he also broke Michael Schumacher's record for wins at the circuit, with seven victories compared to the German's six. This is the fourth circuit where Lewis Hamilton has at least seven wins, joining Montreal (7 wins), the Hungaroring (8), and Silverstone (9).

Lewis Hamilton thanks Fred Vasseur

However, while they both secured their first Ferrari victory at the same circuit, the debuts of the two seven-time world champions in red are incomparable. Whereas Schumacher won in his first year with Ferrari, Hamilton's first season with the Scuderia had not gone so well. The driver had even begun to doubt himself, unable to find the key to performing at Maranello. This victory is therefore all the more heartening.

"It's hard to put this victory into words, difficult to find the words," Lewis Hamilton insists. I have a lot of gratitude, I'm extremely proud of the team, the people I work with. We went through some complicated things last year, both publicly and internally. I was able to rebuild myself during the winter. I trained, I rebuilt my mindset and my focus, I rebuilt the team around me. It reminded me that you should never give up. Even if you fall 100 times, you have to get back up. Perseverance really pays off.

Two years after his last victory with Mercedes BenzDuring the 2024 Belgian GP, ​​Hamilton made sure to highlight the role of Frédéric Vasseur, who brought him to Maranello and supported him through difficult times: “I will be eternally grateful to Fred [Vasseur] (Ferrari boss. Ed.) for believing in me, supporting me, and bringing me into this team. Last year was tough for both of us. There were moments of doubt on my part, but he kept his head down and supported me.” Especially towards the end of the year, he listened to me and we put the pieces of the puzzle together to get back to our best level, both for myself and the team. I couldn't have done it without them.

Having arrived at Ferrari with the dream of one day fighting for the world title in Red, Lewis Hamilton now believes it: “I feel like we’re in the right place to compete for the title. I truly believe in what this team can achieve, even with our lack of power. We know where we need to go, which direction to take. It’s going to take a lot of time, but we’ll keep learning, taking steps forward, and keep putting pressure on them.”

This first victory may only be the beginning. Despite trailing Kimi Antonelli by 41 points in the Drivers' Championship, Hamilton is already looking ahead to the rest of the season with ambition. The next race will take place in Austria on June 28th.

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