Sebastian Vettel of Germany driving the (5) Scuderia Ferrari SF1000, Nicholas Latifi of Canada driving the (6) Williams Racing FW43 Mercedes and Kevin Magnussen of Denmark driving the (20) Haas F1 Team VF-20 Ferrari on track in the F1 Grand Prix of Portugal at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal, October 25, 2020. /CFP
The Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao has been added to the calendar of the 2021 Formula One World Championship as the third race of the season, confirmed the championship on Friday.
"We are thrilled to announce that Formula 1 will be racing again in Portimao after the huge success of the race last year," said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Portimao hosted its first race in late October to fill in the gaps of the schedule caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lewis Hamilton claimed his 92nd win at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, breaking the record kept by Michael Schumacher.
This year the race in Portugal will take place on May 2, the third one on the calendar. There have been many changes made to the original schedule. For example, the Vietnamese race was cancelled and the two races in China and Australia have been postponed.
Lewis Hamilton (R) of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates his record breaking 92nd race win with race engineer Peter Bonnington on the podium in the F1 Grand Prix of Portugal at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve October 25, 2020. /CFP
"We want to thank the promoter and the Portuguese Government for their hard work and dedication in getting us to this point," said Domenicali. "We are confident and excited about our 2021 season, having shown last year that we could deliver 17 races safely and bring our millions of fans thrilling racing at a difficult time."
"We hope to welcome fans to Portimao again this season in a safe way and are working with the promoter on the details of that plan."
The latest confirmed schedule came as the following:
March 28, Bahrain GP, Sakhir
April 18, Emilia Romagna GP, Imola
May 2, Portuguese Grand Prix, Portimao
May 9, Spanish GP, Circuit de Catalunya
May 23, Monaco GP, Monte Carlo
June 6, Azerbaijan GP, Baku
June 13, Canadian GP, Montreal
June 27, French GP, Paul Ricard
July 4, Austrian GP, Red Bull Ring
July 18, British GP, Silverstone
August 1, Hungarian GP, Budapest
August 29, Belgian GP, Spa-Fracorchamps
September 5, Dutch GP, Zandvoort
September 12, Italian GP, Monza
September 26, Russian GP, Sochi
October 3, Singapore GP, Marina Bay
October 10, Japanese GP, Suzuka
October 24, U.S. GP, Austin
October 31, Mexican GP, Mexico City
November 7, Brazilian GP, Sao Paulo
November 21, Australian GP, Melbourne
December 5, Saudi Arabian GP, Jeddah
December 2, Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina