2021 Portuguese Grand Prix

The 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 2 May 2021 at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, Portugal. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton from second. Max Verstappen took second place for Red Bull Racing, with Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas finishing third after starting on pole and rounding out the podium places. This was also the last Portuguese Grand Prix, as the race had not been contracted for the 2022 season and beyond.

2021 Portuguese Grand Prix
Race 3 of 22[lower-alpha 1] in the 2021 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Algarve International Circuit
Layout of the Algarve International Circuit
Race details
Date 2 May 2021
Official name Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021
Location Algarve International Circuit
Portimão, Algarve, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.653 km (2.891 miles)
Distance 66 laps, 306.826 km (190.653 miles)
Weather Light cloud
Attendance 0[lower-alpha 2]
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:18.348
Fastest lap
Driver Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
Time 1:19.865 on lap 65
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Red Bull Racing-Honda
Third
Mercedes
Lap leaders

Background
Further information: 2021 Formula One World Championship § Entries, and COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
A tarmac course in hilly terrain, lined with concrete and gravel run-off areas, passes between a large grandstand and the pit garages.
The pit straight at Portimão in 2012.

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[2] Callum Ilott drove in the first practice session for Alfa Romeo Racing in place of Antonio Giovinazzi, making his Formula One practice debut.[3]

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2 and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium and soft respectively) for teams to use at the event.[4]

Ahead of the Grand Prix organisers announced that a second DRS zone would be available for drivers to aid overtaking. The new DRS zone is established between turns 4 and 5, with the detection point located before turn 4. Unlike the previous edition of the race, the DRS zone located on the main straight was reduced of 120 metres, and the detection point was moved to from turn 14 to after the start of turn 15.[5]

Practice

There were three practice sessions, each an hour in length. The first practice session started at 11:30 local time (UTC+01:00) on 30 April. The second practice session started at 15:00 local time on that afternoon and the final practice session started at 12:00 local time on the following day.[6]

The first practice session ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest for Mercedes ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. Lewis Hamilton, who had struggled finding a level of comfort in his car during FP1, was fastest in the second practice session for Mercedes, with Verstappen in second and Bottas rounding out the top three.[7]

Qualifying

Qualifying started at 15:00 local time (UTC+01:00) on 1 May.[6] Valtteri Bottas set provisional pole in his first Q3 run, while Verstappen's first flying lap was invalidated for exceeding track limits. Ultimately, neither Bottas, Hamilton nor Verstappen were able to improve on their second flying laps, and Bottas kept pole.

Qualifying classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:18.722 1:18.458 1:18.348 1
2 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.857 1:17.968 1:18.355 2
3 33 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:19.485 1:18.650 1:18.746 3
4 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:19.337 1:18.845 1:18.890 4
5 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:19.309 1:18.813 1:19.039 5
6 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:19.092 1:18.586 1:19.042 6
7 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.794 1:18.481 1:19.116 7
8 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.373 1:18.769 1:19.306 8
9 10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Honda 1:19.464 1:19.052 1:19.475 9
10 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin-Mercedes 1:19.403 1:18.970 1:19.659 10
11 63 United Kingdom George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1:19.797 1:19.109 N/A 11
12 99 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:19.410 1:19.216 N/A 12
13 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine-Renault 1:19.728 1:19.456 N/A 13
14 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda 1:19.684 1:19.463 N/A 14
15 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:19.748 1:19.812 N/A 15
16 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.839 N/A N/A 16
17 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1:19.913 N/A N/A 17
18 6 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 1:20.285 N/A N/A 18
19 47 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas-Ferrari 1:20.452 N/A N/A 19
20 9 Russian Automobile Federation Nikita Mazepin[lower-alpha 3] Haas-Ferrari 1:20.912 N/A N/A 20
107% time: 1:24.232
Source:[9][10]

Race

The race started at 15:00 local time on Sunday 2 May.[6] Valtteri Bottas held the lead into turn 1 ahead of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Sergio Pérez. Kimi Räikkönen made contact with teammate Antonio Giovinazzi on the main straight at the end of lap 1 bringing out the safety car. Räikkönen's race was over but Giovinazzi managed to continue without damage.

Race classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 1:34:31.421 2 25
2 33 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 66 +29.148 3 18
3 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 66 +33.530 1 161
4 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda 66 +39.735 4 12
5 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 66 +51.369 7 10
6 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 66 +55.781 8 8
7 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 66 +1:03.749 6 6
8 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine-Renault 66 +1:04.808 13 4
9 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren-Mercedes 66 +1:15.369 16 2
10 10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Honda 66 +1:16.463 9 1
11 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 66 +1:18.955 5
12 99 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 65 +1 lap 12
13 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin-Mercedes 65 +1 lap 10
14 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 65 +1 lap 17
15 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda 65 +1 lap 14
16 63 United Kingdom George Russell Williams-Mercedes 65 +1 lap 11
17 47 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas-Ferrari 64 +2 laps 19
18 6 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 64 +2 laps 18
19 9 Russian Automobile Federation Nikita Mazepin[lower-alpha 3] Haas-Ferrari 64 +2 laps2 20
Ret 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1 Collision 15
Fastest lap: Finland Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1:19.865 (lap 65)
Source:[10][11][12]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap. Max Verstappen's fastest lap of 1:19.849 on lap 66 was deleted by the stewards for exceeding track limits.
  • ^2 – Nikita Mazepin received a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags.[11] He did not lose any places despite this.

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes
  1. At the time of the event Formula One planned to hold twenty-three Grands Prix.[1]
  2. The Grand Prix was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.
  3. Nikita Mazepin is Russian, but he competed as a neutral competitor using the designation RAF (Russian Automobile Federation), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to the state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.[8]

References
  1. Smith, Luke (28 August 2021). "Formula 1 reveals updated 2021 calendar, drops to 22 races". Autosport. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  2. "2021 Portuguese Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  3. "Callum Ilott to drive for Alfa Romeo in Portugal practice after joining as reserve". Formula1.com. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. Jonathan Noble (19 February 2021). "Pirelli reveals tyre compound choices for F1 2021". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. Simone Peluso (28 April 2021). "Portimão, aggiunta seconda zona DRS" (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  6. "Portuguese 2021". Formula 1. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  7. "2021 Portuguese Grand Prix - P2 Classification" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  8. Luke Smith (5 February 2021). "Mazepin set to race under neutral flag after CAS ruling extends to F1". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  9. "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  10. "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Starting Grid". Formula1.com. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  11. "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Race Result". Formula1.com. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  12. "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  13. "Portugal 2021 - Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
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