Formula 1’s visit to the Algarve International Circuit for a race might prove to be a one-off, but thanks to Lewis Hamilton the venue will have a place in the record books for a long time to come.
It didn’t look that way for long spells of the weekend, as Valtteri Bottas held the upper hand until the moment it really mattered, when Hamilton took pole position. That had the potential to be a race-defining moment given the big difference in grip between the clean side of the grid – where pole position was – and the dirty side.
When Hamilton led into Turn One and Bottas was fighting off Sergio Perez having already lost out to Max Verstappen, that only seemed more likely, but we were all underestimating the lack of grip that would be available on the opening lap.
