2021 Portugal GP, Ferrari second practice report: Carlos P4, Charles P7. Ferrari second practice report.

The first day of practice belonged to Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton joined Valtteri Bottas with a Friday P1 ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Hamilton topped the session with 1:19.837 which was 0.143s quicker than potential title rival Max Verstappen in Portimao. Valtteri Bottas, the FP1 session leader, completed the top three on Friday afternoon.

The start of the session was delayed by ten minutes as, just like in 2020, a loose drain cover caused concern. This required the attention of Race Control, who attended the scene to ensure the cover was properly secured before the session began properly.

There were encouraging signs for Scuderia Ferrari, as the Maranello team once again showed it can fight for a place behind Mercedes and Red Bull. After Charles Leclerc finised fourth in the first free practice session, this time it was Carlos Sainz’s turn to finish P4, with a personal best lap time of 1:20.197, very close to the Mercedes of Valttery Bottas (1:20.181).

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc finished in seventh (1:20.360), with Daniel Ricciardo finishing as the lead McLaren in eighth place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Mercedes and Red Bull look very evenly matched and Ferrari are certainly up there too, but Alpine have been the big surprise from this session – and this has probably been their most competitive day of F1 2021 so far.

Check out the full results from the first practice below.

Practice 2 – Portuguese