Portuguese GP 2021: Race Report

We've had a duel in the desert and a thriller in Imola. Round 3 was the spar in the Algarve. It was tense, and it was tasty.

In a Nutshell…

Despite the big battle this season being between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the man who struggled last time out, Valtteri Bottas, grabbed pole position on Saturday. Hamilton was the equivalent of 20cm further back, and Verstappen lined up third, with his fastest lap, good enough for pole, deleted due to violating track limit rules. 

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz impressed, out-qualifying his teammate for fifth. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo did quite the opposite, qualifying 16th as he continues to struggle with his new McLaren. 

There was limited action on the first tour of the Grand Prix, with most holding position and keeping it tidy. However, a lapse of concentration at high speed saw Kimi Raikkonen drive into the back of his teammate and out of the race - never a good idea. That brought out a safety car.

Once Kimi's car had been cleared away, Verstappen caught Hamilton napping momentarily to take second position. The top three of Bottas, Verstappen and Hamilton then pulled away. Hamilton was the fastest, though, capitalising on a mistake by Verstappen to catch the Dutchman on the pit straight and dive boldly down the inside to take second. A matter of laps later, Hamilton drove around the outside of his teammate to snatch the lead and not look back.

Verstappen and Bottas pitted late in the race to compete for the extra point awarded to the driver with the fastest lap. Crossing the line, Verstappen thought the point was his. However, it later became clear that he'd gained an advantage by leaving the track, and so the point went to Bottas.

Elsewhere, Perez recovered from a sloppy start to take a solid fourth, a solid Norris and a battling Ricciardo scored points for McLaren, and Alpine looked much more potent than in past races with a double points finish. 

Biggest Winner: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is the obvious candidate from this weekend - he won the race with a classy performance. This consistently high level is why he is such a record-breaker.

Toto Wolff mentioned that Hamilton's exceptional performances had become a norm. As usual, the Austrian was right. Perhaps Lewis' clinical performance is so expected that it dilutes the enormity of what we see from him. 

Previously, an off-day for Lewis would be a distant fourth or fifth position, whereas now, an off day sees him recover from crashing to finish second position, as seen in Imola. Many characterised this Grand Prix as boring. However, it might have been a classic were one of the other drivers to have pulled off what Hamilton did. 

Biggest Loser: Daniel Ricciardo

I am a huge fan of Daniel Ricciardo, but he walks away from perhaps his most challenging weekend to date in F1. He didn't have many reasons for his lack of pace in qualifying, and it was disastrous to be knocked out in Q3 in the third fastest car.

 Danny managed to fight back to ninth in the race to grab a couple of points, but he'd be hard-pressed to repeat such a feat in Spain or Monaco. The Australian therefore needs to get his performance together mighty fast. In a season with limited testing, the drivers in new teams have struggled. Daniel, though, has found life most challenging and can look across the garage at an in-form Lando Norris who has delivered thus far. Despite being known for drinking from his shoe, Danny Ric is a classy man - hopefully, he'll be back in the fight for podiums soon. 

Moment of the weekend: The fastest lap shoot out

When Bottas and the Red Bull drivers admitted defeat to Hamilton, they took it in turns to put on some fresh, fast, soft tyres and go for the fastest lap of the race for the extra point. A gimmick? Maybe, but it certainly allowed the race to finish with a bang.

In the days before the Portuguese Grand Prix, F1 confirmed three trial races this year to have a new Qualifying format. It involves holding qualifying on Friday, an extra sprint race on Saturday and then a Grand Prix on a Sunday, with the starting positions determined by the result from Saturday. Many, including myself, are sceptical of whether such changes will add to the series. But, as I mentioned on social media at the time, the current F1 format that many know, love and complain about came about from trying something new. Without innovation, this sport will stand still, either becoming boring or descending into anarchy, akin to football and the Super League. 

The end of Sunday's goes to show, fiddling with the format of F1 is not necessarily a bad thing. People were sceptical of the bonus point for the fastest lap. However, it created the moment of the race, so surely change can't be that bad.

Honourable Mention: Pato O’Ward

Alonso, Ocon or Schumacher are all deserving winners of this award. However, I'm going to give it to Pato O'Ward. 

I wasn't sure who he was either until, this weekend, he won his first IndyCar race for McLaren. Zak Brown, also the team boss of McLaren on that side of the pond, promised the 21-year-old Mexican Pato a test in a McLaren F1 car if he won a race. Why does this matter? It's a glimmer of hope for the future that Zak Brown will enable talent in the states to try their hand in F1 - something that previously hasn't happened for many reasons, not least, F1 personnel turning their nose up at the perceived inferior series that is IndyCar.

Yes, Pato is Mexican, and he may not make it to F1 or even have a desire to move. Nonetheless, if he can get a shot, maybe an American driver will in the future. An American driver is the most significant component needed by F1 to grow its popularity stateside, something which may make F1 even more exciting and international.

AJontheLine Line of the week: "Max Verstappen is starting to find out how good Lewis Hamilton is"

Nico Rosberg is quickly becoming popular as a TV pundit for his refreshing honesty and fascinating insight into competing with Sir Lewis Hamilton. In reacting to the Grand Prix, he made the headline-grabbing observation that "Max Verstappen is starting to find out how good Lewis Hamilton is" and that he is "making too many mistakes". 

I suppose that's the primary take-away from this weekend - Lewis and Max are two of the most excellent drivers in the world in closely matched machinery. This means that the winning man will be the one who makes the least amount of mistakes. Max has lost a victory, a pole and a fastest lap due to track limit-related errors. Lewis has also made mistakes in Imola and Portugal. However, with a bit of luck, he recovered from them both. This relentless nature is something that Max has not competed against for a title since perhaps his karting days. Rosberg had to sacrifice his life to beat Hamilton and retired after doing so - he is more qualified than anyone to judge Max as he tests himself against the very best.

The good news is that it is already race week, so not too long to find out who comes out on top in Spain. Speak to you then and, if you haven't already, check out the AJontheLine race review podcast.