Steiner urges Ferrari to stay grounded after Hamilton's maiden Barcelona victory

Lewis Hamilton claimed his maiden victory for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, executing a flawless three-stop strategy to deliver the Scuderia their first win of the 2026 season and end Mercedes’ unbroken run of victories. The result has reignited talk of a championship challenge for the seven-time world champion, but former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is urging caution.

“They know they achieved something special, but this doesn’t always carry forward,” Steiner said on The Red Flags Podcast. “The next race is coming quickly, and it could be different again. Just stay focused and do what you did in Barcelona without getting ahead of yourself and saying, ‘Oh, we are going to win every race now.’”

Steiner was equally measured in his broader assessment of Ferrari’s trajectory, acknowledging the progress made under team principal Fred Vasseur while stressing the need for consistency. “We had a very good race, but we cannot say after one race that this is normality — it still needs to be proven,” he added. “They showed they can do it, they’ve got a good team together. Fred is taking the right direction, but now stay united and keep on working on it and try to do more of the same.”

Hamilton’s Barcelona triumph, combined with back-to-back second-place finishes in Monaco and Canada, has lifted him to second in the drivers’ championship. He trails Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli by 41 points, with George Russell third.

Speaking after the race, Hamilton acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead but refused to rule out a title run. “Mercedes have got an amazing package and they’re so strong. Both drivers are doing such an incredible job,” he said. “It’s going to take absolutely everything from all of us in this team to overcome the deficit and to get to being ahead of them and doing this consistently. But nothing is impossible, so just one step at a time.”

Steiner’s warning reflects a wider sense within the paddock that Ferrari’s Barcelona performance, while impressive in its strategic execution, came against a backdrop of Mercedes dominance that has defined the early part of the season. Whether the Scuderia can replicate that level of precision at the next round remains the central question.