Magazine: Hamilton's Portugal triumph, BTCC preview

Valtteri Bottas beat Hamilton to pole, and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull jumped the reigning world champion at the restart, but the Mercedes star still found a way to win and extend his lead in the title fight.

Grand Prix Editor Alex Kalinauckas explains how Hamilton was able to overcome both his main rivals and looks at the small errors that have cost Verstappen in the early stages of the 2021 campaign.

A new sportscar era kicked off at Spa last weekend as Toyota won the first World Endurance Championship event with the Hypercar regulations. But it wasn’t all plain sailing – on track or off – and endurance racing guru Gary Watkins was there to talk to the main players and report on all the developments.

McLaren had an IndyCar breakthrough at Texas, taking its first win in more than four decades, but the real star was Scott Dixon. David Malsher-Lopez reports on how the Chip Ganassi ace moved to the top of the table.

Two more major championships get under way this weekend and our previews guide you through both.

FIA Formula 3 will support this weekend’s Spanish GP and Megan White speaks to Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti after his switch from the pacesetting Prema team to ART, which has put together a serious challenge for this year’s campaign.

The 2021 British Touring Car Championship action will begin at Thruxton. Marcus Simmons talks to three-time champion Gordon Shedden about his return to the series, looks at the rise of Ciceley Motorsport, and highlights the key things to watch this year.

The BTCC-supporting British Formula 4 and Ginetta Junior championships kick off at Thruxton too. Stephen Lickorish picks out the drivers likely to be leading the way – as well as being your guide to the other guesting support categories.

Also part of our 92-page issue is all the news and reports from the UK racing scene, including the return of the Donington Historic Festival featuring former BTCC champions and exotic machinery such as Ford GT40s.

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