| 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 3 of 22[a] in the2021 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Algarve International Circuit | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 2 May 2021 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 HeinekenGrande 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 | Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:19.865 on lap 65 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||||
| Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2021 Portuguese Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal 2021) was aFormula Onemotor race that took place on 2 May 2021 at theAlgarve International Circuit inPortimão,Portugal. The 66-lap race was won byMercedes driverLewis Hamilton from second.Max Verstappen took second place forRed Bull Racing, with Mercedes'sValtteri 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 the2022 season and beyond.
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 forAlfa Romeo Racing in place ofAntonio Giovinazzi, making his Formula One practice debut.[3]
Tyre supplierPirelli brought theC1, 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 secondDRS 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]
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 withValtteri Bottas fastest forMercedes ahead of theRed Bulls ofMax Verstappen andSergio 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 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.
The race started at 15:00 local time on Sunday 2 May.[6]Valtteri Bottas held the lead into turn 1 ahead ofMax Verstappen,Lewis Hamilton,Carlos Sainz Jr. andSergio Pérez.Kimi Räikkönen made contact with teammateAntonio Giovinazzi on the main straight at the end of lap 1 bringing out thesafety car. Räikkönen's race was over but Giovinazzi managed to continue without damage.
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