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Lewis Hamilton battles back to win Portuguese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has won the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen second and Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas finishing in third place.

Sergio Perez impressed with fourth place, while McLaren’s Lando Norris continued his fine record of finishing in the top five in every race with fifth, as his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo battled back to ninth after starting a disappointing 16th.

But the race belonged to Hamilton. After being jumped by Verstappen at the safety car restart on lap seven, the seven-time World Champion brilliantly thought back, overtaking the Red Bull driver on the inside of turn one on lap 11 before flying around the outside of team-mate Bottas at the same corner nine laps later to claim his 97th race victory.

Victory for Hamilton and second place for rival Verstappen ensured the pair continue their streaks of finishing in either P1 or P2 in every race this season. Bottas had a lonely race after being passed by his team-mate and the Red Bull as he came home in third despite suffering a sensor issue on his power unit, but the Finn managed to secure a further point for the fastest lap after Verstappen had his lap deleted due to track limits.

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Alpine rounded off their strongest weekend of the season with a double points finish after Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso claimed seventh and eighth respectively, but Ferrari endured a mixed bag in terms of results, with Charles Leclerc finishing sixth, five places ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz after he was unable to back up his strong qualifying performance and finished the race in 11th place.

Kimi Raikkonen was the only retirement of the race, damaging his front wing after colliding with his Alfa Romeo team-mate Antonio Giovanazzi at the end of the first lap on the start/finish straight while the Finn was changing a button on his steering wheel, causing the safety car to make an appearance.

The teams will not have long to rest on their laurels with the Spanish Grand Prix only a week away, with Hamilton hoping to claim his 100th pole position as this exciting title race takes another twist.

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