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Mercedes With Red Bull getting the beating of both Mercedes drivers in FP3, it looked set for a titanic battle for pole. Hamilton seemed fractions behind his team mate through Q1 and Q2 but as he so often does, pulled a lap out of the bag when it mattered at the start of Q3. With the wind picking up and the track moving away from them, the top three didn’t improve on their second runs leaving the reigning world champion with his 100th pole position, an absolutely astonishing feat. Bottas had to make do with third, but starts on the clean side of the grid and could pick up a handy tow so is ...

Mercedes Barcelona is something of a Mercedes stronghold and they certainly started well, topping both sessions with Bottas getting the best out of the W12 in the morning before Hamilton returned the favour in the afternoon session. With plenty of laps under their belts, it was a very solid day for the team, which looked even better when the struggles of their rivals was taken into consideration. As it stands, they start tomorrow as favourites for pole. Lewis Hamilton – FP1: 1:18.627, P3; FP2: 1:18.170, P1 "It's been a good start to the weekend, the track is awesome and our balance is simil...

Mercedes Bottas made a great start from pole, and also at the subsequent restart behind the Safety Car. But the Finn couldn’t extract the same pace from the W12 today as Hamilton and spent much of his race under pressure. Much of that pressure came from his team mate, who wound up victorious but was made to work hard for the win. First, he had to pass Verstappen, then he was made to sweat it out in the dirty air behind his team mate for lap after lap before finally squeezing past for the lead and ultimately, the win. As for the Finn, pitting a lap later than Verstappen cost him P2 and a lat...

The drivers and teams report back on all the action from a busy final practice and qualifying at the third race of the season, the Formula 1 Portuguese Grand Prix 2021 from Portimao...

Mercedes A rocky opening to FP1 that saw Hamilton label the car as “undriveable” morphed into a pretty solid day in the end for the Silver Arrows. The reigning world champion struggled to get his soft tyres into a good working window in the first session, but nailed his preparation lap in FP2 to grab the top spot. As for Bottas, he looked the happier of the two in the morning before dropping back marginally as the day wore on. Top in both sessions as a team – but can they stay there tomorrow, with Red Bull hot on their heels?