2021 Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix: Round three wrap

The third round of the 2021 F1 season took place over the weekend at the Algarve International Circuit. It wasn’t as chaotic as last time out, however, still served up some plenty of great viewing action.

Sir Lewis Hamilton was victorious and clocked up his 97th F1 win. Max Verstappen collected much needed points towards his championship finishing in second, while the pole man in Valtteri Bottas bagged himself another podium.

Bottas led into turn one and by the end of the first lap the field was behind a safety car thanks to an incident between the two Alfa Romeos. While Verstappen managed a brilliant pass on Hamilton, he returned serve soon after with the Dutchman making a minor error at turn 14. Lewis then flew past his teammate, taking the lead of the race from lap twenty.

The seven-time world champion seemed content but not completely satisfied in post-race interviews telling the media that the team still have plenty of work to do: “We can’t leave any stone unturned, we’ve gotta just keep our heads down, stay composed. We’ve got to continue to try and push this car, squeeze a little more out of it because you see how close we are to these guys – but this is awesome.”

A great job done again by Lando Norris in the McLaren making some impressive moves and finishing in fifth. His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo had a shocker in qualifying landing him in sixteenth. In true Ricciardo form, though, he managed to fight his way through the field and scored a top ten finish (ninth place).

Alpine Renault were strong finishing in seventh and eighth, while at the other end of the field, again we saw the Haas’ suffer along with the Williams – a real frustration for George Russell who qualified in eleventh.

The fastest lap award went to Valtteri Bottas but not without controversy – Verstappen was certain he’d gotten the job done, however, had his lap cancelled after exceeding track limits.

Lewis Hamilton heads into Catalunya with an eight point advantage.

Let us know if you’re enjoying the F1 season so far.

Results

Did not finish: Kimi Räikkönen