Mailbag: Has Ferrari got the fastest car? Has Mercedes got a driver dilemma?

BARCELONA, Spain — Lewis Hamilton earned his first win as a Ferrari driver with a dominant Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, finishing 19.561 seconds ahead as the race exposed Ferrari’s current pace and Mercedes’ balance. Only five on the lead lap completed, with seven DNFs including Kimi Antonelli, underscoring a race of attrition. Ferrari introduced eight updates to the car in Spain amid new regulations, highlighting the ongoing development game as teams adapt to ADUO engine rules. Team principal Fred Vasseur tempered expectations, insisting Barcelona’s result reflects progress rather than a season-wide dominance and noting that the real contest will be how teams keep developing under evolving rules. Ferrari excels in medium-speed corners, though the team concedes it is not the outright fastest on the straight.