Formula 1: Very few exciting moments from dull Portimao race

The potential for an exciting Portuguese Grand Prix was scrubbed away as a flawed track surface left Formula 1 drivers struggling for grip and temperature.

Ah, that Formula 1 race wasn’t the most thrilling was it? It can happen.

The moments that had us fans on the edge of our seats came few and far between, with most of them happening early on. Let’s begin.

Algarve International Circuit is a hell of a track, but along the same lines as Intercity Istanbul Park, the amount of grip at the drivers’ disposal was minimal. But for Mercedes, this seemed like a positive, as their machine seemed less affected than others.

There is potentially a Formula 1-shaped future at Portimao. But sadly, this era just was not the right time.

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Alongside the track surface and this season’s unpopular tire compound, this current era of cars makes it difficult to follow. These cars are renowned for being hard to follow another, and that was more than obvious, especially in the final sector.

Sure, there were overtakes into turn one, but the majority of moves were completed by a driver coming through on fresher tires. Drivers facing each other on the same age of tires faced a struggle from turn 12 and through the final sector.

A prime example is when Max Verstappen followed Valtteri Bottas. A Red Bull with a speed advantage found himself in the Mercedes’ DRS lap after lap without being able to pass.

This was mainly due to the fact that Verstappen would lose momentum, especially through turn 14, and approach the DRS zero seven tenths of a second behind — constantly. It was a feat which Verstappen laughed off, claiming it to be “unbelievable”.

Anyway, back to the exciting moments — after the usual opening lap chaos.

The end of the opening lap saw a very rare error from veteran Kimi Raikkonen, as he clipped the back of teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, plugging his front wing underneath his Alfa Romeo and forcing him to retire. Here comes everyone’s favorite safety car.

The first moment that caught fans’ attention was the title antagonists going wheel to wheel. Bottas caught his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, sleeping on the restart, and Verstappen was there to pounce. A defensive move from Hamilton left the outside line open for the Dutchman, along with a tidy slipstream from the other Mercedes.

Around the outside went Verstappen; 1-0.

However, that did not last long. A handful of laps later, Verstappen suffered a kick of oversteer coming out of turn 14, enabling Hamilton to smell blood. A brave move down the inside and back through came the reigning champion; 1-1.

Despite the thoughts of some, Hamilton’s race-winning move on Bottas around the outside was not that thrilling; we all saw it coming.

The progress of the Alpines was a noticeable watch. Esteban Ocon undoubtedly had his best performance in some time, as he controlled his way to seventh place, with teammate Fernando Alonso in eighth while setting the timing screens alight in his final stint.

At times, the Spaniard produced lap times making him the quickest driver on track. Of course, that excluded the usual lap times from Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas and now Sergio Perez.

A double points finish with moves past Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren and both Ferraris made their finish more sweet.

But sadly, there was not much else. The track surface, the tires and cars that don’t agree on following did not help.

There was one moment which caught the attention of the cameras. Well, two actually.

One was Mick Schumacher hunting down Nicholas Latifi. Albeit for 17th place, Schumacher in a very poor Haas chasing down a faster Williams is a feat, and a rare one for Haas this season. He hunted down Latifi and forced him into a mistake, and he once again beat teammate Nikita Mazepin by a whole minute. It was another performance to be proud of for Mick.

The final thing was the battle for the fastest lap point, a single point which has become crucial. Red Bull set the first gauntlet with Perez, causing Mercedes to call Bottas in for soft tires to show their hand.

He and the team did that, gaining the fastest lap with just a handful of laps to go. Now it was Red Bull’s turn to call Verstappen in to try. When you have drivers and teams who ultimately have to settle for their positions, it creates an opportunity for them to have a free pit stop when they are not leading.

Verstappen had one full lap to try, and that was last lap. He beat Bottas by a mere 0.02 seconds to gain the extra point.

Oh yeah, this was until the FIA deemed Verstappen’s lap illegal after exceeding the now well-known track limits at turn 14, which of course led to more words from Helmut Marko.

Now, given the history at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, the optimism is not high heading into this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. In this current era, the races are not good there. But, let’s look on the positives; we can hope.