How Hamilton took a “completely different journey” to Portugal victory
Just as he did in 2020, Lewis Hamilton had to come from behind to win the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. Only this time there were two rivals he had to pass, among the several challenges he had to overcome, on his way to securing a 97th grand prix victory
“It was a completely different journey to get the result we just got.”
That was Lewis Hamilton’s assessment of his 97th Formula 1 career victory at the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. But, really, his triumph at the Algarve Circuit last weekend did bear some noticeable similarities to his win at the same track last October.
In both races Hamilton fell behind his key rival, and he also had to make vital passes to secure the lead in each event. The difference this time around, though, is that things simply mattered more in terms of the title fight when F1 arrived in Portugal.
Share Or Save This Story
Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.
A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.
More from Alex Kalinauckas
How Piastri is already showing signs of being a true F1 great
The blessing and curse in Bearman’s second 2024 substitute appearance
“Nobody’s perfect” - but Leclerc came close with final Monza stint
Two Mercedes collisions behind Verstappen’s Hamilton penalty call in Italian GP
The Schumacher/Alonso element Norris is missing that would help McLaren’s team orders headache
The "50 cent coin" disaster risk that kept McLaren off the best Monza strategy
Norris: McLaren 20km/h faster on Monza straights than last year
F1 Italian GP: Norris leads Piastri in McLaren qualifying 1-2, Verstappen seventh
Latest news
Ogier explains Power Stage roll, given €30k suspended fine for opening stage comments
Bagnaia slashes Martin deficit of Aragon crash with Misano runner-up finish
Acropolis WRC victory a “big release of pressure” for Neuville
Martin takes blame for costly Misano bike swap call
Autosport Plus
Why the turbine Lotus experiment failed to realise its potential in F1
How the chief architect of McLaren's improvement plans to continue its rise
Jon Noble: Why Ferrari could be a dark horse for the title – but we can't be sure until October
The Albon-matching elements of Colapinto's maiden F1 grand prix
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.