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Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B, and the rest of the field away at the start
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Special feature

Portuguese Grand Prix driver ratings

The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warm-up. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd

Lewis Hamilton – 8

This was a vintage Hamilton race display, which featured a pair of nice passes to seal the lead and his typical tyre management prowess when following and attacking. But he can't score higher because of his "messy" Q3 laps, which cost him a pole that was there to be taken, and because he screwed up the safety car restart with such an uncharacteristic error.

Max Verstappen – 7

A litany of mistakes produces this mark. He had to catch an early Q3 slide through Turn 4 that cost him a pole-sealing lap, which could be forgiven in the wind, but two more slides in the race – both at Turn 14 – cost him a spot to Hamilton and fastest lap. Might have been a different result had he started or stayed ahead of Hamilton given his clear air pace.

Previous article The five key tests Hamilton passed to claim Portugal victory
Next article Why the FIA doesn't buy Red Bull's track limits gripes

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