Portuguese Grand Prix highlights: F1 standings after intense and dramatic Portuguese GP

An action-packed Portuguese Grand Prix 2021 did not disappoint fans who had sky-high expectations after two scintillating races at Bahrain and Imola. At the Algarve International circuit, fans got to see some of the best-overtaking moves between title rivals and the relentless will of the old guard to maintain their dominance at the top. Fans also witnessed the close moments that can define a driver's race as teams utilised strategy to the best of their abilities to overtake their rivals in the pits. Here are the Portuguese Grand Prix highlights and the latest F1 standings after a dramatic and intense race at Portimao.

Portuguese Grand Prix highlights

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas had a clean start from pole as he held his lead through turn one with teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen slotting in behind. However, a safety car was triggered on lap two as Kimi Raikkonen drove into the back of Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi on the pit straight and broke his front wing. This meant that the drivers had to be on their toes once the race was deemed safe to restart.

When racing resumed on lap seven, Bottas got away well but Hamilton was caught by Verstappen who made a brilliant restart and pulled off a gutsy move around the outside to take second place through turn one. However, the move on Hamilton was short-lived. The reigning Driver's Champion came roaring back and took second place back from Verstappen after the Dutchman made a mistake with some oversteer on lap 10.

That was not all. On lap 20 Hamilton used his drag reduction system (DRS) to pull off a sublime move past Bottas on the start-finish straight to take the lead of the race. Once the seven-time Driver's Champion got the lead he never looked back as he controlled the race brilliantly to win his 97th career race.

Meanwhile, the action continued between Bottas and Verstappen to decide the other two podium places with the pit stops being the decisive moments to decide the fate of the two drivers. Red Bull brought Verstappen in first on lap 35 with Bottas following him in a lap later. The Finn retained the lead but only briefly as the Dutchman closed right up and passed him into the hairpin at turn five.

With Verstappen comfortably ahead with three laps remaining, Mercedes brought Bottas in for a second stop to take the fastest lap. Red Bull followed suit with getting Verstappen in a lap later. The Dutchman momentarily grabbed the extra championship point but had his time deleted for exceeding track limits, giving Bottas the fastest lap.

The Portuguese GP ended with Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez finishing in fourth with McLaren's Lando Norris finishing a spot behind. Charles Leclerc was in sixth for Ferrari while Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished in seventh and eighth place respectively. Daniel Ricciardo drove a brilliant recovery drive to finish ninth for McLaren with Pierre Gasly grabbing the final championship point in 10th for AlphaTauri.

2021 F1 standings after intense Portuguese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton (69) extended his lead in the F1 Drivers Championship to eighth points from Max Verstappen (61) while Lando Norris (37) maintained third place. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas (32) leapfrogged Charles Leclerc (28) into fourth in the F1 Drivers Championship. The top 10 were rounded up by Sergio Perez (22) in sixth, Daniel Ricciardo in seventh (16), Carlos Sainz (14) in eighth, Esteban Ocon (8) in ninth and Pierre Gasly (7) in tenth. With just eight points separating the top two drivers this season's F1 Drivers Championship promises to be a cagey affair with two teams fighting it out to finish at the top of the 2021 F1 table. Hamilton will hope to maintain his lead at the top when the drivers meet again this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix from May 7-9.