Portugal’s popular Portimao tour returns swiftly on the F1 calendar to fill the empty third-race slot on the 2021 chart; A new season begins in Bahrain on March 28, with pre-season trials next Friday
By James Galloway
Last updated: 05/03/21 9:07 am
Portugal marks the third round of the Formula 1 season on May 2 after being added to the rubber-stamped calendar.
As first reported last month, an agreement was reached between F1 and Portimao ‘s round to fill the empty slot on the 23 – race table until final approval is reached, which was announced Friday morning.
The Portuguese GP completes what is recorded as a top 23 race season. The campaign starts in Bahrain on March 28. All races are live Sky F1 Sports.
Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of F1, said: “We are delighted to announce that Formula 1 will be racing again in Portimao following the success of last year’s race.
“We want to thank the promoter and the Portuguese Government for their hard work and dedication to get us to this point.
“We are confident and excited about our 2021 season, having shown last year that we could safely deliver 17 races and deliver exciting races to our millions of fans at a difficult time. “
The Portimao wave rotation in the Algarve – like a roller-coaster with drivers – was drafted in to hold its first Grand Prix last October when F1 moved to a record that was largely based in the Europe due to pandemic coronavirus infection.
The track was well-liked by drivers and made for an exciting Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton winning his 92nd race to overtake Michael Schumacher’s full-time record.
Twenty-seven thousand spectators attended last autumn.
“We hope to welcome fans to Portimao again this season in a safe manner and we are working with the promoter on the details of that plan,” Domenicali said.
Portugal is currently one of 33 countries on the UK ‘red list’ and UK and Irish residents must quarantine hotels for 10 days on their return, with elite sports not not cheap.
Portugal will form a backlash with Spain nearby on the calendar, meaning F1 staff will be heading directly from the Algarve to Barcelona for next week’s event.