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[a] in the 2021 Formula One World Championship | |||
| 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[b] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||
| Time | 1:18.348 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | |
| Time | 1:19.865 on lap 65 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Mercedes | ||
| Second | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||
| Third | Mercedes | ||
| Lap leaders | |||
Background edit
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 edit
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 edit
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 edit
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
| 1 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:18.722 | 1:18.458 | 1:18.348 | 1 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:18.857 | 1:17.968 | 1:18.355 | 2 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:19.485 | 1:18.650 | 1:18.746 | 3 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:19.337 | 1:18.845 | 1:18.890 | 4 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:19.309 | 1:18.813 | 1:19.039 | 5 |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:19.092 | 1:18.586 | 1:19.042 | 6 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:18.794 | 1:18.481 | 1:19.116 | 7 |
| 8 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:19.373 | 1:18.769 | 1:19.306 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:19.464 | 1:19.052 | 1:19.475 | 9 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:19.403 | 1:18.970 | 1:19.659 | 10 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1:19.797 | 1:19.109 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:19.410 | 1:19.216 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1:19.728 | 1:19.456 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:19.684 | 1:19.463 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:19.748 | 1:19.812 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:19.839 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:19.913 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1:20.285 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1:20.452 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin[c] | Haas-Ferrari | 1:20.912 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 107% time: 1:24.232 | |||||||
| Source:[9][10] | |||||||
Race edit
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 edit
- 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 edit
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Notes edit
- ^ At the time of the event Formula One planned to hold twenty-three Grands Prix.[1]
- ^ The Grand Prix was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.
- ^ a b 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 edit
- ^ Smith, Luke (28 August 2021). "Formula 1 reveals updated 2021 calendar, drops to 22 races". Autosport. from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
- ^ "2021 Portuguese Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ^ "Callum Ilott to drive for Alfa Romeo in Portugal practice after joining as reserve". Formula1.com. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ Jonathan Noble (19 February 2021). "Pirelli reveals tyre compound choices for F1 2021". Motorsport.com. from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ Simone Peluso (28 April 2021). "Portimão, aggiunta seconda zona DRS" (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ^ a b c "Portuguese 2021". Formula 1. from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "2021 Portuguese Grand Prix - P2 Classification" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 April 2021. (PDF) from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ Luke Smith (5 February 2021). "Mazepin set to race under neutral flag after CAS ruling extends to F1". motorsport.com. from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Starting Grid". Formula1.com. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Race Result". Formula1.com. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Portugal 2021 - Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 4 May 2021.