F1 News

International press: 'Masterclass by Hamilton, Verstappen made mistakes'

3 May 2021 at 07:50
Last update 3 May 2021 at 08:03
  • GPblog.com

Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix and the Brit made almost no mistakes, while we could not say the same about his biggest rival Max Verstappen. The international press is lyrical about Hamilton.

Marca

The Spanish sports newspaper talks about a 'masterclass' by Lewis Hamilton: "Lewis Hamilton gave another masterclass of his talent, ambition and coldness, to beat Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas on the track, whom he overtook in two stunning manoeuvres. The other great protagonist of the day was Fernando Alonso, he finished eighth and again he finished in the points."

La Gazzetta dello Sport

The pink newspaper saw the brilliant collaboration of Hamilton and Mercedes that allowed them to win the race as they have done many times in recent years, "Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, what a spender! The world champions dominated the GP of Portugal. Today in Portimao we saw once again the king of the last couple of seasons. Admittedly, they had already won in Bahrain. But in Sakhir and Imola it was the Max Verstappen-Red Bull duo that impressed most. This weekend was different though, neither in qualifying nor in the race. Max has lost a battle, but the war is still very long."

Sky Sports

Sky Sports F1 also saw Hamilton shine in Portugal: "Lewis Hamilton rebounded after falling back to third position at the start with great overtakes on Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. He now leads the championship by eight points ahead of Verstappen. Bottas completes the podium in Portimao, while Lando Norris again impressed in fifth."

"Mercedes proved to have a faster car than Red Bull on race day. But Verstappen provided some much-needed consolation by overtaking Bottas himself for an eventual second place finish. Especially since Red Bull went in for a pit stop earlier than Mercedes."

Auto, Motor und Sport

AMuS mainly saw an exciting first half of the Grand Prix in which there was a lot of overtaking: "After the two exciting races in Bahrain and Imola, the third race of the season in Portimao did not disappoint. The fans were treated to an exciting Grand Prix on Sunday, especially in the first half, with many shifts in the standings. In the end, it was again Lewis Hamilton who had the best end of the race. The champion celebrated his 97th victory in the premier class."

L'Equipe

Lewis Hamilton did almost perfectly according to the French: "Another race well mastered for Lewis Hamilton, who recorded the 97th victory of his career, the second in a row at the Portimão circuit. Locked up by his teammate Valtteri Bottas on the restart on lap 6, the Briton stayed well focused despite attacking and overtaking Max Verstappen. The seven-time world champion was rewarded for his efforts by recovering second place after a mistake by the Dutchman at the penultimate corner of the 10th lap, also well aided by the DRS."