Williams have a chance to win their fourth consecutive Portuguese Grand Prix in this Sunday’s Formula 1 race at Algarve International Circuit. Yes, you read that correctly.
The Portuguese Grand Prix is one of the eight races on the 2020 Formula 1 schedule which was not originally on the calendar but was added as a result of the many other cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
This race is scheduled to be contested this Sunday, October 25 at the 15-turn, 2.91-mile (4.683-kilometer) Algarve International Circuit road course in Portimao, Algarve, Portugal, which has never previously hosted a Formula 1 race.
The Portuguese Grand Prix, however, has been contested before. Autodromo do Estoril hosted the race from 1984 through 1996, and it hasn’t been contested since.
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As a result, Williams technically have a chance to win their fourth consecutive Portuguese Grand Prix this year.
Yes, you read that correctly: a Williams winning streak that dates back to 26 years ago is “on the line” this weekend.
Damon Hill won the race in 1994 in what was his second season competing for Williams, David Coulthard won it in 1995 in his second season driving for the team and Jacques Villeneuve won it in 1996 as a rookie.
There is absolutely no chance that this streak will continue given just how terrible Williams are right now. But at least they can enter the race weekend knowing they are the three-time reigning winners of this particular race, something they probably won’t ever be able to say again for any event.
In the last 39 races going back to September of 2018, Williams have only scored one point, with that lone point coming after a 12th place finish became a 10th place finish for Robert Kubica due to the two Alfa Romeo cars behind penalized after the race at Hockenheimring last July.
Both George Russell and Nicholas Latifi have finished as high as 11th place this season to come within one position of a point-scoring effort, with the former doing so in the Tuscan Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello and the latter doing so in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring and in the Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
While they won’t win, it is not out of the question that Williams can score points this Sunday, which is pretty much the next best thing given the struggle in which the last few seasons have resulted for the team. The Portuguese Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live on ESPN from Algarve International Circuit beginning at 9:10 a.m. ET.