The starting lineup for the 2021 Formula 1 season’s third race is set following Saturday’s qualifying session in Portimao.
The qualifying session for the third race on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, the Portuguese Grand Prix at Algarve International Circuit, did not feature quite the Mercedes vs. Red Bull battle that the qualifying sessions for the season’s first two races did, but it was a close one between two drivers nevertheless.
Through the first three qualifying sessions of the 2021 Formula 1 season, there have now been three different polesitters, as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took his first pole position of the year for tomorrow’s race.
Bottas took the pole position for this 66-lap race around the 15-turn, 2.91-mile (4.683-kilometer) road course in Portimao, Algarve, Portugal by recording a top lap time of 78.348 seconds (133.711 miles per hour) in the third and final round of qualifying for the race.
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He beat out teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was aiming for his 100th career pole position, by just 0.007 seconds. Hamilton is set to start the race alongside Bottas on the front row in second place.
Red Bull were quite handily beaten by Mercedes, as Max Verstappen qualified in third place alongside teammate Sergio Perez in fourth on the second row. Verstappen actually had the top lap time in the third and final round of qualifying, but his lap time was deleted due to a track limits violation.
Neither one of the season’s first two races was won by the polesitter. Hamilton won the season opener at Bahrain International Circuit after starting in second place, and Verstappen won the most recent race at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari after starting in third, the same positions in which 2021’s two winners are set to start tomorrow.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was the best qualifier from outside Mercedes and Red Bull, qualifying in fifth place. He is set to start alongside Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in sixth on the third row.
Here is the full starting lineup for the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix at Algarve International Circuit.
Starting Lineup
1st – Valtteri Bottas
2nd – Lewis Hamilton
3rd – Max Verstappen
4th – Sergio Perez
5th – Carlos Sainz Jr.
6th – Esteban Ocon
7th – Lando Norris
8th – Charles Leclerc
9th – Pierre Gasly
10th – Sebastian Vettel
11th – George Russell
12th – Antonio Giovinazzi
13th – Fernando Alonso
14th – Yuki Tsunoda
15th – Kimi Raikkonen
16th – Daniel Ricciardo
17th – Lance Stroll
18th – Nicholas Latifi
19th – Mick Schumacher
20th – Nikita Mazepin
Tune in to ESPN at 10:00 a.m. ET tomorrow morning for the live broadcast of the Portuguese Grand Prix from Algarve International Circuit.