2020 Portuguese Grand Prix

## Lap Leader

The **2020 Portuguese Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race that was held on 25 October 2020 at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, Portugal. It was the first Portuguese Grand Prix held since 1996 and the first time held at the Algarve International Circuit. The race was the twelfth round of the 2020 World Championship.

## Background

### **Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic**

The 2020 World Championship was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the originally planned Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting the FIA to draft a new calendar. The Portuguese Grand Prix did not feature on the original 2020 schedule, but was added in August 2020 in order to maximise the number of races in the season.

Up to 45,000 fans were initially expected to attend the race. However, due to a surge of cases attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the number of fans allowed to attend the race was later reduced to 27,500.

### **Entrants**

The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.

### **Tyres**

Sole Formula 1.5 tyre manufacturer Pirelli brought their C1, C2 and C3 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the three hardest compounds available. Pirelli also tested the 2021 tyre compounds during the first 30 minutes of the second practice session.

## Practice

The first practice session ran without incidents and ended with Charles Leclerc fastest ahead of Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. The second practice session saw two red flags; the first when Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri caught fire, the second when Lance Stroll and Verstappen collided. The session ended with Lando Norris fastest ahead of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz. The race stewards investigated the Stroll–Verstappen collision and took no action. The third practice session was red flagged in the final minute of the session after Sebastian Vettel ran over a drain cover. which subsequently came loose. The session ended with Pierre Gasly on top ahead of Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez.

## Race

On the first lap, Pérez and Formula One driver Verstappen made contact, forcing Perez to pit and dropping him down the order. Pérez would eventually recover to finish fourth.The opening few laps of the race were chaotic as Leclerc, ho started on the medium tyre fell behind those who started on the soft tyre, and so after the first lap Sainz was leading the race from third on the grid until being passed by Leclerc, who would go on to lead every lap of the race after that. On lap 18 Stroll tried to pass Norris around the outside of Turn 1, but Stroll misjudged the manoeuvre and collided with Norris resulting in a 5-second penalty for him.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

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Constructors' Championship standings

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## References

1. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap.
2. ↑  Romain Grosjean finished 12th on the track, but received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
3. ↑  Racing Point was deducted 15 points after a protest from Renault was upheld regarding the legality of their car.