Formula 1 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix – Clinical Win by Hamilton at the Algarve Circuit

Formula 1 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix was held at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, Portugal. This was the second running of the Portuguese GP since the start of the pandemic. It was the third round of the F1 2021 season, and only one point separated the top two in drivers' standings. 

Bottas Takes Pole but Hamilton Wins Race

The Algarve track was resurfaced ahead of last year's race, making it difficult to get the tyres in the right operating window. This year was no different, and nearly every driver failed to put in a good qualifying lap. Valterri Bottas took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. He denied Hamilton his 100^th pole position, but the British champ was in supreme rhythm on Sunday. 

Hamilton’s decisions and moves on the track paved the way for his second win of the 2021 season and 97th of his career. Verstappen finished second, while Bottas could only manage P3 after grabbing the pole and winning fastest lap.

Pre-Race Preparations Thursday: F1 Announces Sprint Qualifying Format

F1 announced the plan that three races this year will feature a sprint qualifying race format. The name of the three venues will be announced later. So the weekend format will be Friday practice (Practice1) for one hour and Qualifying (Q1, Q2, Q3) in the afternoon to determine the grid for Saturday's Sprint. On Saturday morning, there will be another 1-hour practice session (Practice2) followed by Sprint qualifying over 100 km, no pit stops mandatory. The final result will determine the grid for the main race on Sunday. The top three in the sprint qualifying will get points—three points for P1, two points for P2 and one point for P3.

Pirelli brought the three hardest compounds to the race in Portugal—hard tyre (C1), yellow-marked medium tyre (C2) and red soft tyre (C3).

Friday Practice: It’s Alpine, Ferrari and McLaren on the Tail of the Top 2 Teams

Mercedes looked very quick during the practice session of Friday. Bottas was fastest in the first session, while Hamilton was fastest in the second. Verstappen was second in both the practice sessions, indicating a super-tight race at the front of the field. 

Behind the two leading teams was Alpine as the team in form, showing a good enough pace to challenge for top 10 positions on Saturday and Sunday. Ferrari was looking good, especially in the hands of Carlos Sainz, as he put his rallying skills to good use on the slippery track surface. Another standout performer was McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo, who was in the top 10 in both the practice sessions. Behind the top 5 teams, Alpha Tauri looked a bit off the pace as the car struggled to perform on a low-grip track.

Saturday Practice: Verstappen Quicker than Merc Duo

It was Mercedes' quickest during Friday's session, but Verstappen set a time quick enough to beat both the Mercedes drivers. Lewis was more than two tenths slower than Max, while Valterri was a further tenth behind. Perez was the fourth quickest ahead of a charging Ocon in Alpine. Charles Leclerc was 6^th ahead of Sainz, Norris, Gasly and Räikkönen.

Qualifying: Mercs Occupy 1-2 of the Grid, Red Bulls Take 3-4

Daniel Ricciardo was the biggest disappointment of the session after he was knocked out of the 16^th place, while Norris ended the first session in P2. Aston Martin had a similar problem when Lance Stroll failed to reach into Q2 in an upgraded Aston Martin, while Vettel progressed into the next session on an old-specification package. Latifi and the two Haas drivers were the other three who were knocked out in Q1.

Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo started the second session on a more durable medium tyre. Only Mercedes, Red Bull and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc managed to qualify for the race on a set of medium tyres. Lando Norris was again the star of the session finishing in P3. The five drivers who were knocked out included the Alfa Romeos, Russell, Alonso, and Yuki Tsunoda.

Max Verstappen set a time during his first hot lap, which would have given him his second pole position of the season had he not ran wide at turn 4. Bottas did a better job than Hamilton and claimed a provisional P1 slot ahead of his teammate. The wind picked up speed, and nobody managed to improve their time on the final hot laps. Bottas denied Hamilton a chance to score his 100^th pole position by the smallest margin. Max Verstappen qualified 3^rd, slotting ahead of Perez. Sainz was 5^th, Ocon 6^th, Norris 7^th, Leclerc 8^th, Gasly 9^th, and Vettel.

Sunday Race: Bottas Steals Fastest Lap from Verstappen

Valterri Bottas did a solid job at the start of the race and kept the P1 position ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen stayed close to the pair in front in the third position. Behind, Perez lost fourth to fast-starting Carlos Sainz, while Norris overtook Ocon for 6^th place. On lap 2, Kimi Räikkönen slipstreamed his teammate on the home straight and made a mistake by hitting his front wing to the left rear of Giovinazzi. Kimi had a damaged front wing stuck under the front tyres, sliding into the gravel trap and bringing out a safety car.

Bottas made a great restart on lap 7. Hamilton was a little slow to react and lost the place to a sharp Verstappen but later regained the position on lap 11. Verstappen’s slight mistake in the last corner gave Hamilton a chance to use DRS and move back into P2. On lap 20, Lewis made a potentially race-winning move on Bottas and took the lead of the race. The order at the end of lap 20 was Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Leclerc, Ocon, Gasly, and Ricciardo who started in P16.

Ferrari pitted Sainz on lap 21 for an undercut on Norris in P5. McLaren reacted by bringing in Norris the next lap and emerged ahead of Sainz. Leclerc was the first to pit on lap 25 for a set of hard tyres. He came out behind Norris and Sainz. Lewis took the lead of the race on lap 37, taking advantage of all the pitstops from the three leading drivers except Perez, who had yet to stop. 

Perez pitted for soft tyres on lap 44 and came out in P4 position in the race. Bottas had an engine temperature sensor issue, which dropped him away from the Red Bull of Max. Hamilton was streaking away at the front, so Bottas and Max pitted to new tyres to take a point for the fastest lap. Max did a slightly quicker lap, but his time was deleted due to running wide in turn 14. 

Lewis won the 97^th race of his career and second of the season ahead of Verstappen and Bottas. Perez finished in P4 ahead of Norris in 5^th position. Leclerc was 6^th, ahead of Ocon in 7^th, Alonso 8^th, Ricciardo 9^th, and Gasly the final point finisher.

Up Next: F1 2021 Spanish Grand Prix

Next week F1 moves to Spain to have the first two consecutive race weekends of the 2021 season. The race will be held at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.