Hami wins, extends lead over Verstappen
Portimao (Portugal), May 2: Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton made two typically clinical overtakes to bounce back and win the Portuguese Grand Prix for a 97th career win on Sunday, extending his championship lead over Max Verstappen to eight points in his bid for a record eighth F1 title.
At one point Hamilton slipped to third, but the Mercedes driver slickly moved ahead on Lap 20 of 66 to finish ahead of Red Bull’s Verstappen and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
“That was such a tough race, physically and mentally, keeping everything together,” Hamilton said.
The British driver started from second on the grid behind Bottas, who took a bonus point for the fastest lap. Verstappen thought he set the fastest time — on his final lap — but it was deleted because he went wide of track limits.
Hamilton and Verstappen have been in the top two in all three races, with Hamilton winning two of them heading into next Sunday’s Spanish GP.
Bottas took pole to deny Hamilton a record-extending 100th, making him the third different pole-sitter so far after Verstappen and Hamilton. He made a clean start to hold off Hamilton and Verstappen but dropped off.
“It was a tricky day today, just didn’t have the pace,” Bottas said.
The safety car came out on Lap 2 for debris on the track as veteran Kimi Raikkonen lost his front wing and went off into gravel after clipping the left rear tire of his Alfa
Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi. “It was my mistake,” Raikkonen said. “I’m just glad I didn’t ruin his tire.”
When the race resumed on Lap 7, Bottas surprised Hamilton by restarting earlier than he perhaps expected, while Verstappen got in Hamilton’s slipstream to move past him into second. Verstappen couldn’t overtake Bottas despite being in the DRS zone, but Hamilton used his to zoom past Verstappen on the outside to reclaim second four laps later, and then set about chasing Bottas, overaking him with another fine move on the outside to stamp his authority on the race.