Portuguese Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog

As much as we all expected him to strap in and be quick from the get go, the reality is that he was going to need a few races to really bed himself in - which he himself said pre-season. If within the next few races we find he’s still struggling, then it would be concerning given how strong Lando’s been in the first three races.

That wraps this one up then folks. Thank you for tuning into this live blog on The Roar for the Portuguese Grand Prix. Not long until the next race in Barcelona, which is less than seven days away. Though until then, let's digest this one and have a great week! Ciao.

-------- DRIVER'S -------- 69 -- Lewis Hamilton 61 -- Max Verstappen 37 -- Lando Norris 32 -- Valtteri Bottas 28 -- Charles Leclerc 22 -- Sergio Perez 16 -- Daniel Ricciardo 14 -- Carlos Sainz 8 --- Esteban Ocon 7 --- Pierre Gasly 5 --- Lance Stroll 5 --- Fernando Alonso 2 --- Yuki Tsunoda 0 --- Kimi Räikkönen 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Sebastian Vettel 0 --- George Russell 0 --- Mick Schumacher 0 --- Nikita Mazepin 0 --- Nicholas Latifi

----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 101 - Mercedes AMG 83 -- Red Bull Racing Honda 53 -- McLaren Mercedes 42 -- Ferrari 13 -- Alpine 9 --- Scuderia AlphaTauri 5 --- Aston Martin Racing 0 --- Alfa Romeo Racing 0 --- Williams Mercedes 0 --- Haas Ferrari

RACE REPORT It was another Mercedes victory in Portimão, as reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton claimed his second win of the season, fending off Max Verstappen and pole sitting teammate Valtteri Bottas. Bottas made a clean getaway at the head of the field, though an early Safety Car to clear the debris caused by Kimi Räikkönen’s crash on the pit-straight with Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi – caused a shakeup in the top four. Hamilton was caught out at the restart by Verstappen, while Sergio Perez and Lando Norris behind were moving back up into the top five positions. Though it was not long after that the Dutchman found himself back behind the Mercedes in third. Lap 20 saw Hamilton get a strong run coming off the final corner, to utilise the DRS and swoop around the outside of his teammate Bottas for the lead going into the first corner. None of the top four cars pitted until Lap 36, when Verstappen came in for the hard tyres – but unfortunately lacked the pace on that compound to challenge the Mercedes cars ahead. An engine sensor issue cost Bottas pace during his second stint, all while Hamilton was able to assert himself in the lead en route to his 97th career victory. The Finn was able to secure the fastest lap however, after Verstappen’s time on the final lap was deleted for a track limits violation. Losing positions at the start ultimately hurt Perez’s race, though a fourth place finish still gave Red Bull a healthy boost in the constructor’s championship – whilst Mercedes had two cars on the podium. Both McLarens ended the race in the points as Norris’ consistent run in the top five continued and Daniel Ricciardo put in an epic comeback from qualifying sixteenth to ninth. Alpine also had both their cars feature in the points with Esteban Ocon in seventh and Fernando Alonso achieving his best finish since Singapore 2018 with eighth. Ahead of Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly, who denied Carlos Sainz a point. Charles Leclerc also demonstrated his consistency in the top six again for Ferrari, though Sainz sadly couldn’t hold onto his old tyres at the end of the race, after his early pit-stop.

STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT & UPDATED STANDINGS

POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Paul di Resta HAMILTON - "It's such a tough race, physically and mentally." "Didn't get a great start like Valtteri and then I lost out at the restart." "With Valtteri, I had to make the move early." "Today wasn't all perfect." VERSTAPPEN - "It was pretty decent." "At the end we just lacked a little bit of pace." "The warmup is hard on these tyres." "Around here we were lacking pace compared to them [Mercedes]." BOTTAS - "It was a tricky day today and I didn't know what happened in the first stint." "Overall we had a strong package today."

Verstappen's just had his fastest lap deleted for a track limits violation, so it will be Bottas who gets that extra point for fastest lap.

RESULTS FROM THE 66-LAP PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 M. Verstappen (Fastest Lap) 3 V. Bottas 4 S. Perez 5 L. Norris 6 C. Leclerc 7 E. Ocon 8 F. Alonso 9 D. Ricciardo 10 P. Gasly 11 C. Sainz 12 A. Giovinazzi 13 S. Vettel 14 L. Stroll 15 Y. Tsunoda 16 G. Russell 17 M. Schumacher 18 N. Latifi 19 N. Mazepin RET K. Räikkönen

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX! It wasn't the day for Red Bull, who couldn't match Mercedes on the hard tyres and forced Max Verstappen to settle for second. While pole sitter Valtteri Bottas also couldn't match his Mercedes teammate and slipped to finish third.

Lap 66/66: FINAL LAP

Lap 65/66: Verstappen now pits too! He wants to take fastest lap, as Red Bull pretty much concede the win is off the table for them this afternoon. Ricciardo up into ninth after that pass on Sainz.

Lap 64/66: Bottas brought in for an additional pit-stop, so that can attempt a fastest lap on fresh tyres. Brand new soft tyres go onto the Mercedes, as they look to try and take fastest lap honours away from Perez.

Lap 63/66: A lock up from Latifi sees Schumacher through! Great job from Mick to get a little air time with a nifty little overtake.

Lap 62/66: Schumacher within DRS range as he tries to take seventeenth off Latifi, in what has been a clean race for the rookie and reigning F2 champion/

Lap 61/66: As the race looks to wind down at the front of the field, the battle between Mercedes and Red Bull has really fizzled out on this occasion.

Lap 60/66: HAM VER BOT PER NOR LEC OCO ALO SAI RIC GAS GIO STR VET TSU RUS LAT MSC MAZ the order of the field. Räikkönen the only retiree so far.

Lap 59/66: The Alpine is through at Turn 1 and that moves Alonso in eighth. Behind now his teammate Ocon.

Lap 58/66: Alonso within DRS range of his compatriot Sainz, as the two-time world champion looks to take eighth. Sainz has been on these tyres for quite some time now.