After two action-packed races, Formula 1 fans have great expectations that this season will be one of the most exciting and dramatic in recent years.
The third round of the season goes to the Portuguese coastal city of Portimao this weekend.
From battling at the top of the grid to battling for points through the back markers, what to watch out for this weekend at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Ricciardo’s chance to avenge Imola
Daniel Ricciardo says he would like to leave Portugal with a positive result after being outdone by his teammates in the opening rounds of the season.
McLaren’s newest driver finished seventh and sixth respectively in the first two laps of the season, but played second fiddle against young Briton Lando Norris.
Norris was exceptional to start the 2021 season with a fourth in Bahrain and a third in Imola.
The young Brit is currently third in the drivers’ championship, 29 points ahead of Ricciardo.
Ricciardo’s move from Renault to McLaren has been very exciting but he has yet to settle into the new car.
The Australian said his goal this week is to see his driving progress and continue his points scoring.
“I want to continue to build on the progress we made in the first two races and put into practice what we learned at Imola,” he said.
“There are a few elements that I still want to deal with. They only get better with more time behind the wheel.
“Seeing Lando on the podium showed the car’s potential, which is very motivating.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrates third place in Imola. (
Reuters: Jennifer Lorenzini
)
The speed difference between the two was evident in the last race at Imola when the McLaren team asked Ricciardo to let Norris overtake them at the start of the race.
The Australian has played the team game but doesn’t want this to be a recurring theme as he’s trying to get back to the top of the podium – something he hasn’t done since leaving Red Bull in 2018.
In an interview with Australian lifestyle publication EFMT, he said it was his job to “update” his car and make sure he was fast enough in the race so that his team didn’t have to make that call again .
“I admit I was basically not fast enough and I think I’m my biggest critic,” he said.
“If I was fast enough, I would have pulled back and not been in this position.”
Daniel Ricciardo fought for speed at the second Grand Prix of the year in Imola. (
Reuters: Guglielmo Mangiapane
)
Portugal offers Ricciardo a new opportunity to show off his skills in a car that his team-mate has shown can compete near the grid.
However, the track in the Portuguese city of Portimao was not good for the Australian in 2020.
Ricciardo, who drove for Renault, was ninth, behind his team-mate at the time, Esteban Ocon.
However, the Australian said he was thrilled with the Portimao challenge.
“There is a good mix of high and low speed turns with various elevation changes that make it an exciting challenge,” he said.
“When you get out of some turns you can really feel your stomach sink with the steep changes in the incline.”
Red Bull and Mercedes are preparing
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have shared victories in the first two races of the season. (
Reuters: Bernadett Szabo
)
The first two races of the season were more exciting than ever and prepared an exciting season for the world championship titles for drivers and designers.
With one win each, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are only one point away from the top of the drivers’ standings.
Verstappen and his Red Bull team seem ready to give Mercedes their biggest challenge in the hybrid era.
But Red Bull boss Christian Horner says Mercedes should be the favorite when it comes to this weekend’s race in Portugal and the following weekend’s race in Spain.
“They are both great tracks, but tracks that we would expect to showcase Mercedes’ strengths based on last year’s data,” he wrote on the team’s website.
Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese and Spanish Grand Prix last year, and team-mate Valtteri Bottas made the podiums on both occasions.
Hamilton has won the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 2017.
Verstappen was the last driver to win the Spanish Grand Prix – he won Red Bull in his first race in 2016 after switching from Toro Rosso mid-season.
Horner said if Red Bull could be competitive over the next two weekends they should be well positioned to fight for the world title in 2021.
“If we can put a little pressure on Mercedes on these tracks, that will be a good sign for the rest of the year,” he wrote.
“I’ve always said it would take four races to get a clear picture of my form. Now is the acid test.”
The drivers get ready for the Portimao roller coaster
Formula 1 held its first race in Portimao last October – officially known as the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.
It is a route that is criss-crossed by large differences in altitude. The drivers fly downhill into the first corner and run uphill again in seconds.
There are several routes with large differences in elevation, but Portimao differs as the riders go up and down several times per lap.
The biggest problem this poses for drivers and teams is the traction and stability of the vehicle when cornering, especially when exiting a corner downwards.
At turn 11, for example, the slope on the track has dropped the most at 16 meters, and the car would rather go straight ahead than exit the turn.
“It’s not because of the force of gravity and the downward force, but the drivers still feel a noticeable lack of grip, which can make the car more unstable,” explains the Mercedes team on its website.
“It also makes traction more difficult, so there is a lag when drivers turn off the power.”
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On steep inclines, only gravity and the downward force of the vehicle keep it from getting airborne.
In these moments, however, the tires have less grip, which can cause the cars to slide off the track if the driver steps on the throttle too early out of a corner.
The team describes Portimao as a “roller coaster” that challenges the drivers’ skills in the cockpit.
Some of the corners on the track are “blind” to the driver, which means they will not have a clear view of them before they arrive.
“The waves create some blind corner peaks, including turns 8, 11 and 13,” wrote Mercedes F1.
“This makes it more difficult for them to see the entries in the curves and to create reference points for braking and turning.”
George Russell seeks redemption after Imola
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George Russell hits Valtteri Bottas and causes a major collision at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
It was the main conversation at the end of the second lap – George Russell and Bottas got together in a crash that stopped the race.
The high-speed collision resulted in Williams driver Russell jumping out of his car and facing Bottas, who was still in the cockpit.
The crash ended a terrible weekend for Bottas, who, despite Mercedes, was never up to speed.
Max Verstappen wins
From third place onwards, the Dutchman led the race from the first braking zone, knocking his championship rival Lewis Hamilton in the corner and was up for one lap.
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For Russell, this wiped out his team’s best chance of scoring a point since the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Russell’s confrontation after the incident raised many eyebrows and resulted in the young driver apologizing on social media the day after the race.
“Emotions can be high in the heat of the moment and … mine have beaten me,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I’ve learned some difficult lessons … and I’m going to make a better driver and a better person for the experience.”
Russell also apologized to Bottas for the incident after initially accusing the Finn for the crash and asked him, “Are you trying to kill us both?”
Portugal offer Russell his next chance to scoop the elusive World Cup points the team is desperately looking for.
Williams has been last in the last two seasons and is eager to climb a position in the overall standings – and secure the additional financial rewards if he outperforms other teams.
The Canadian Grand Prix was canceled again
The mandatory 14-day quarantine across Canada has led to the cancellation of the Grand Prix in Montreal, Formula 1 announced.
The seventh round weekend now takes place in Istanbul, Turkey, marking the second year in a row that Canada will miss a race.
“I would like to thank the organizer and the authorities in Canada for all their efforts over the past few weeks, but the travel situation made our plans impossible,” said F1 President Stefano Dominical.
“While it is disappointing that we can’t be in Canada this season, we are pleased to confirm that Turkey will host a Grand Prix in 2021 after a great race last season.”
Turkey was added to the Formula 1 calendar last season after a nine-year absence. Lewis Hamilton produced one of the season’s drives to win.
Hamilton’s win secured his seventh world title but did it the hard way, starting from sixth on the grid.
New bitumen, rain and cold temperatures made life difficult for the drivers who had to fight every lap to keep their car on the track.
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