The F1 2021 calendar continues this weekend with the Portuguese Grand Prix taking place at the popular track in Portimao.
Red Bull claimed their first victory of the season last time out, as Max Verstappen emerged victorious from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
The Dutch driver sits just one point behind Lewis Hamilton in the standings at this early stage, and will go top of the tree should he make it back-to-back wins this weekend.
Fans will be delighted to see the pair battle wheel-to-wheel after many seasons of Mercedes dominance at the front. Hamilton has a major fight on his hands if he is to win his eighth world title.
Behind the front pair of teams, McLaren have been impressive, kick-starting 2021 with Lando Norris claiming a podium place at Imola.
The British driver’s stock is rising, but can he maintain his form going into the third weekend of the season? Ferrari sits just behind the front pack to mark a significant improvement on last season.
RadioTimes.com brings you a complete guide to the Portuguese Grand Prix 2021 including dates, times and TV details as well as exclusive analysis from Sky Sports F1 commentator Crofty ahead of every race.
When is the Portuguese Grand Prix?
The Portuguese Grand Prix takes place on Sunday 2nd May 2021. Check out our full F1 2021 calendar for the list of dates and upcoming races.
What time does the Portuguese Grand Prix start in the UK?
The race begins at 3pm on Sunday 2nd May 2021.
We’ve included the full schedule for the rest of the weekend, including practice and qualifying times below.
Qualifying is more important than ever this season with Mercedes and Red Bull looking so tight at the top, so make sure to tune in for the fireworks on Saturday.
Portuguese Grand Prix schedule
Friday 30th April (from 11am on Sky Sports F1)
Practice 1 – 11:30am
Practice 2 – 3pm
Saturday 1st May (from 11:45am on Sky Sports F1)
Practice 3 – 12pm
Saturday 1st May (from 2pm on Sky Sports F1)
Qualifying – 3pm
Sunday 2nd May (from 1:30pm on Sky Sports F1)
Race – 3pm
How to watch Portuguese Grand Prix on TV
The Portuguese Grand Prix will air live on Sky Sports F1.
All races will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event throughout the season.
Sky customers can add individual channels for just £18 per month or add the complete sports package to their deal for just £25 per month.
How to live stream the Portuguese Grand Prix online
Existing Sky Sports customers can live stream the race via the Sky Go app on a variety of devices.
You can watch the Grand Prix with a NOW Day Membership for £9.99 or a Monthly Membership for £33.99, all without signing up to a contract.
NOW can be streamed through a computer or apps found on most smart TVs, phones and consoles. NOW is also available via BT Sport.
Portuguese Grand Prix preview
With Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft
The battle at the top
DC: We’ve got a battle, and it’s great to have a battle. I think Red Bull might feel they should be a bit further ahead. Or should be ahead of Mercedes. They have the faster car, it seems, but Lewis still leads the Driver’s Championship. Max has never led a Driver’s Championship in his life before.
That might change this weekend because I really fancy Red Bull for this one, despite the Portuguese Grand Prix having a history of being won by racing knights — Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jack Brabham, and Lewis Hamilton before he became a Sir have all won there. I just fancy Red Bull for the win, third time lucky this season to properly show just how dominant that car can be.
All eyes on Lando Norris
DC: Lando Norris spent 25 laps in second place at Imola. Other drivers might have found themselves being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton a little bit quicker, but I thought Lando showed brilliant defensive skills. I thought he recovered well from a really tricky start for all the drivers. He will be kicking himself that he didn’t start third on the grid and had his lap time deleted, rightly so by the stewards, but he’ll be kicking himself for that.
I just love the way he’s knuckling down and getting on with it, and he’s looking really impressive in that McLaren – third in the championship, he absolutely deserves that, and 23 points ahead of Danny Ricciardo. He was behind Ricciardo [at Imola] and McLaren rightly made the switch because he was the faster driver. He finished 20 seconds in front of Ricciardo in Bahrain and 28 seconds in Imola. I know that’s not completely Daniel’s fault, but that’s massively impressive.
Lando Norris has finished in the top five at the last three Grand Prix, so the signs were there at the back of last year. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him go well again this weekend. Another top five finish will be absolutely what he deserves and what McLaren deserve as well. Lando Norris, take a bow so far, but there’s plenty of work to be done.
Settling in
DC: Daniel [Ricciardo], as the weeks go by, as each race goes by, will become more and more comfortable and settled at his new team. That advantage that Lando has got, purely because he’s been there for the last couple of years, will start to diminish. We talk about the Lewis and Max battle, but the Lando-Ricciardo battle is just as intense, I’m sure. McLaren will be hoping it spurs both drivers onto another top three finish for them this year.
If you look at the championship table as it stands at the moment, Verstappen’s ahead of Perez, Norris is ahead of Ricciardo, Leclerc’s ahead of Sainz, Stroll’s ahead of Vettel, Gasly is ahead of Tsunoda, and Ocon’s ahead of Alonso. The common denominator to all that is that the guy who was at the team last year is ahead of the guy who’s joined the team this year. That, to me, is a very good indicator that it takes a while to get settled.
I don’t expect that to stay the same by the end of the year. We’ll have this conversation before Abu Dhabi, but at the moment the new boys are taking a bit of time to settle in.
The track
DC: I like this track a lot, I think it’s a great track. It’s nice to see us go back there. I was talking to Max [Verstappen] and Sergio [Perez] about it on Friday and they both loved it, even though they had a little crash on the first lap of the race last year. They said that the grip was nowhere, because it was raining and they were all on slicks.
It features some really, really impressive, undulating corners. I’ve got a lot of time for the Portimao track. Turns 10 and 11 are a magnificent blind crest where it’s very difficult to see cars as you’re approaching. You’ve got to get your lines right in the overtaking spots with a nice, big DRS zone to help people as well. It gave us a cracking race last year. Lots of changes, lots of overtakes.
For the full breakdown of F1 races coming up, check out our F1 2021 calendar guide.
If you’re looking for something else to watch check out our TV Guide or visit our Sport hub.
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