F1 was back in action this weekend for the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN GRANDE PRÉMIO DE PORTUGAL 2021. With only a point separating them in the championship, both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were looking for a good race. In the end, it was Hamilton who took victory for the second time this season, extending his championship lead.
Both Mercedes got away well off the line, with Valtteri Bottas leading from pole position. The two Red Bull drivers could not say the same. More so Sergio Perez, who lost a position to Carlos Sainz off the start. Lando Norris had a good start, battling with Esteban Ocon on the opening lap of the race, gaining a position up into P6.
The safety car was deployed for the first time and only time in the race after Kimi Raikkonen collided with the rear of his teammate’s car down the main straight to start the second lap. His front wing shattered and he pulled off the track to retire in the first corner.
The race restarted on lap 7. Bottas waited until the very last minute to accelerate down the main straight. This threw off his teammate, who was overtaken by Max Verstappen around the outside of the first corner.
Sainz lost out to Perez in turn 1 and Norris got by Sainz as well. Norris then went on to dive up the inside of Perez in turn 5, advancing into P4.
Verstappen made some attempts to get into the lead using the DRS down the main straight, but he wasn’t close enough to make anything stick, leaving Bottas in the lead. On lap 11, the rear of Verstappen’s car slightly lost the rear of the car around the crucial acceleration zone of turn 14. This made him slower down the main straight, allowing Hamilton to reclaim P2, with some assistance from the DRS. Verstappen tried to fight back in the first sector, but couldn’t take back his position.
After following behind Bottas for about 10 laps, Hamilton made a bold move around the outside of the first corner – with some assistance from the DRS – to take the lead of the Grand Prix. Bottas began slowing dropping off from Hamilton and falling into striking distance of Verstappen, although the Red Bull driver struggled to keep without DRS zone of the Mercedes. The DRS would help Verstappen to get right on the gearbox of Bottas, but by the end of the lap, he would be on the very edge of the DRS range again. Verstappen was complaining about a power issue with third gear.
Ferrari was the first team to take a new set of tyres, pitting in Carlos Sainz on lap 22. He replaced his soft compound tyres for a set of mediums. This opened the pit window for drivers who started the race on the softs. Norris pitted the following lap to cover off the undercut from Sainz. The McLaren driver rejoined the race narrowly ahead of Sainz.
Red Bull was the first of the top 3 to blink, calling Verstappen into the pit lane for a new set of hard compound tyres on lap 36. Verstappen dove into the pit lane in maximum attack mode, having a huge lockup under braking for the 80km/h speed limit line.
Mercedes was forced to respond to the move by Red Bull, pitting for a set of hard tyres the following lap. He came out ahead of Verstappen, but Verstappen had the advantage with the warmed up tyres. He quickly got onto the rear of the Mercedes. Bottas slid his way through turn 3 and 4 on the slippery cold tyres. Verstappen needed to slow to avoid hitting the slower Bottas at the uphill turn 4. With some DRS and faster pace down the straight that followed, Verstappen was able to launch a move on the inside of Bottas, taking P2.
Hamilton pitted the following lap for a set of hard tyres as well, maintaining the net lead of the race. Sergio Perez moved into the lead of the race, but he still had to make his pit stop.
Perez had a close call while trying to lap the Haas of Nikita Mazepin in the tight turn 3 right-hander. Perez tried to lap him on the inside, but Mazepin cut him off. Perez had to lock his tyres to avoid a collision. The move caught the attention of the stewards, earning Mazepin a 5 second time penalty. But, being the last of the running cars and more than a minute off of the next closest car, the penalty didn’t mean much for his race.
Perez was able to extend his stint an impressive number of laps, but the tyres eventually degraded enough that Hamilton was able to catch and pass Perez. Red Bull took Perez into the pit lane for a new set of tyres, in hopes of stealing the point for fastest lap from Hamilton.
There was a brief scare for Bottas, who started to complain about a loss of power. It was caused by a faulty exhaust temperature sensor and the issue was quickly corrected by the team members on the pit wall.
With just a couple of laps remaining in the race, both Bottas and Verstappen pitted for new sets of soft compound tyres to try and earn themselves an extra point for the fastest lap of the race. On the penultimate lap, Bottas took the bonus point from Perez. Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap of the race, but it was invalidated by the stewards for a track limits violation in turn 14, meaning that Bottas would walk away with an extra point under his belt.
With a second win of 2021, Hamilton extends his lead at the top of the championship leaderboard. Verstappen and Bottas wrapped up the podium.
This is the first back-to-back weekend of the season. The drivers and teams will be back in action next weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix on May 9.
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| DNF |
