2021 F1 World Championship, The Portuguese Grand Prix Live On DStv This Weekend

DStv customers can look forward to the third round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship, the Portuguese Grand Prix, live from the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao on the afternoon of Sunday 2 May 2021 at 2:55pm on SuperSport Grandstand and SuperSport Motorsport (DStv channel 201 & 215).

After two thrilling races in Bahrain and Italy, just one point separates Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, with the Mercedes man on 44 points and his Red Bull rival on 43.

Yet momentum is very much on Verstappen’s side, with the young Dutchman putting in a masterful drive in difficult conditions at Imola to claim his first win of the season. Hamilton, meanwhile, put in a superb recovery effort to come home in second place having slid off while overtaking backmarkers.

“I think we just did everything well in these conditions,” said Verstappen. “We made the right calls, great start, made the right calls with the tyres, stayed out of trouble, so that’s how we, I think, at the end of the day won the race, but there are no guarantees and we still have to work hard to improve because they [Mercedes] are very close.”

Lando Norris of McLaren will hope to continue his fine form, having come home in fourth and third place in the two races thus far to be third on the Championship standings.

epa09143561 (front to back) British Formula One driver Lando Norris of McLaren F1 Team, Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing and Spanish Formula One driver Carlos Sainz of Scuderia Ferrari in action during the Formula One Grand Prix Emilia Romagna at Imola race track, Italy, 18 April 2021. EPA/DAVIDE GENNARI

“I think days like today are always the ones we look forward to because anything can happen,” explained the young British driver. “It can go terribly wrong for you, like it did for a lot of other people, but it can also go very right like it has for me today.

“So I think one of the things that I’ve got better at from the last year and over the years is reflecting on Saturday, learning from the mistakes or things I didn’t do right, and then seeing Sunday as a new day and a new challenge to try and get a podium and some better results.”

Further down the field, Haas driver Mick Schumacher will be looking to make amends for spinning off while warming his tyres behind the safety car in Imola: “I think my driving afterwards was quite driven by my anger – I don’t know if you saw it on the feed but I had a few lock-ups and went into the gravel and stuff.

“Overall, I think that’s something we have to learn from, to regroup myself a bit quicker. In general, I just think I wanted to catch up as quick as I could but unfortunately we were a few laps down.”

Last year’s Portuguese Grand Prix was dominated by Hamilton, who had the ‘triple crown’ of pole position, race win and fastest lap. Mercedes teammate Valterri Bottas and Verstappen completed the podium.

F1 legends Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell have the most Portuguese GP wins in history (three apiece), while Ferrari has been the dominant constructor, with seven races wins down the years.

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