The vacant spot of the third round of the 2021 was linked with other hosts as well, but was finally given to Portugal, who’s organisers expressed back in February the interests in hosting another GP. As we remember, the last Portuguese GP that took place last October, was the first one there in 25 years. Last years race evolved around a lot of chaos in the first laps and provided us with a pretty exciting experience. It was in Portimão last year that Sir Lewis Hamilton passed the record of race wins that belonged to Michael Schumacher, claiming his 92nd race win, with Valtteri Bottas on 2nd and Max Verstappen on 3rd. 

The race will once again take place at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, where last year it was able to welcome 27.000 fans during the GP weekend. The promoter, Portuguese government and F1 have been working closely in order to be able to welcome fans on track again this year, with the respect of sanitary and safety regimes due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Stefano Domenicali, the President and CEO of F1 has said about the comeback to Portimão: 

“We are thrilled to announce that Formula 1 will be racing again in Portimão after the huge success of the race last year. We want to thank the promoter and the Portuguese Government for their hard work and dedication in getting us to this point. 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 Portimão again this season in a safe way and are working with the promoter on the details of that plan.”

The Portuguese Secretary of State of Tourism Rita Marques said: “Holding major events in our country is very important for the image and international promotion of Portugal as a tourist destination, and so it is with great interest that we see the return of Formula 1 to the Algarve in 2021. I want to thank the FIA and F1 for its confidence in Portugal, the Algarve and the Algarve International Racetrack by choosing our country to host a stage of the F1 calendar, and to express our full commitment to make it a big success.”

And here's the updated 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣ calendar#F1 pic.twitter.com/e5IlGjbQnG

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 5, 2021