Seven-time defending Formula One world champion cruised to an easy victory at the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix – rarely being challenged for the vast majority of the race. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished a distant second and Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, finished in the third and final podium position.
Bottas was the pole-sitter entering the race and managed to successfully hold off both Hamilton and Verstappen at the race start. The only drama of the race occurred on the second lap when Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen banged into the rear tire of his teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi, damaged his wing and was out of the race. That created a safety car for the next four laps as the race officials cleared the debris of Raikkonen’s car from the track.
On the ensuing race re-start, Verstappen was able to get by – albeit briefly – Hamilton, but Hamilton returned the favor five laps later. Another nine laps after that – on Lap 20 – Hamilton passed Bottas to claim the lead. Hamilton held the lead until the pit crossovers between Laps 36-38 when the trio all pitted. Bottas briefly emerged from the pit ahead of Verstappen but was unable to hold the slight advantage as his tires warmed up, allowing Verstappen to pass him for second place. Meanwhile, Hamilton emerged from the pits in second place as Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, had yet to pit and was clinging onto the top spot.
It only took Hamilton 13 laps to pass Perez and the world champion went unchallenged for the remainder of the race as Bottas and Verstappen duked it out for the single point awarded for the fastest lap, with Verstappen claiming that point on the last lap of the race – only to have it taken away from him afterwards when it was determined that he had exceeded track limits.
With the victory, Hamilton extends his overall 2021 F1 driver’s championship lead to eight – with 69 to Verstappen’s 61 points.
2021 Portuguese Grand Prix Top 10
1] Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2] Max Verstappen Red Bull
3] Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
4] Sergio Pérez Red Bull
5] Lando Norris McLaren
6] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
7] Esteban Ocon Alpine
8] Fernando Alonso Alpine
9] Daniel Ricciardo McLaren
10] Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri