Algarve International Circuit
Portuguese Grand Prix
Is Portimão Good for Overtaking?
It’s a better circuit to drive than to race on. Most of the passing happens in one place, the downhill braking zone into Turn 1, where the wide track gives a following car room to try. Both Grands Prix here ended with the winner well clear. Lewis Hamilton won by 25.592s in 2020 and 29.148s in 2021.
The liveliest laps came when grip was scarce. On the fresh 2020 surface, the Mercedes pair and Charles Leclerc started on mediums and dropped behind the soft-tire runners, and Carlos Sainz led from seventh on the grid.
Algarve International Circuit
Strategy Factors
2021 Portuguese Grand Prix
What to Look Out for at the Portuguese Grand Prix
Pole hasn’t been a guarantee. Hamilton won from the front in 2020, but Valtteri Bottas started first in 2021 and finished third, beaten by both Hamilton and Verstappen.
The opening lap can bring out the Safety Car. In 2021 Kimi Räikkönen hit his own teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi, on the main straight and retired. Keep an eye on the calendar too. The 2027 race falls on June 18-20, a different time of year from the October 2020 and May 2021 visits, so neither old race is a clean guide to track temperature or tire wear.
Preview placing most overtaking on the start-finish straight and describing the fresh asphalt laid for 2020.
Corner-by-corner guide to the downhill Turn 1, the Turn 4 crest, the Turn 13 hairpin and off-camber Turn 14.
Official 2027 event page with the 4.653km circuit specification and Hamilton's race lap record.
Portuguese Grand Prix Tire Strategy
Hamilton won the 2021 race on one stop, with mediums until lap 37 and the hard to the flag. Pirelli brought its three hardest compounds, C1 to C3, to both visits, and even so the hard was the tire to have. Sergio Pérez went furthest on one set, 51 laps on mediums, and finished fourth.
Track temperature peaked at 40°C, and Mario Isola said the warmth raised wear on the softer compounds. Verstappen and Bottas only fitted softs for late stops in the closing laps. Pirelli hasn’t named its compounds for the 2027 return yet.
Pirelli's race review with each leader's stops, Pérez's 51-lap medium stint and the 40 degree track temperature.
The C1 to C3 nomination, the added DRS zone, the lap 1 Safety Car and Verstappen's deleted fastest lap.
Algarve International Circuit Sector by Sector and Corner by Corner
F1 hasn’t qualified at Portimão since 2021, so the speeds, gears and braking points below come from Valtteri Bottas‘s 1:18.348 pole lap in 2021 qualifying, on that year’s cars. He was at full throttle for 59% of the lap and spent 14.3 seconds on the brakes across seven braking zones. He peaked at 314 km/h at the end of the pit straight, and the slowest point was 77 km/h at Turn 5.
FastF1 timing data for Valtteri Bottas's 1:18.348 pole lap, used for the speeds, gears, braking points and sector figures
Turn 1 as the overtaking hotspot and the plunge down to Galp
The elevation changes around the lap and the final right-hander at Galp
History of the Algarve International Circuit
Portimão spent six years getting from announcement to opening, and it only reached F1 in 2020 because the pandemic had emptied the calendar.
Planning from 2002, the seven-month build, the 2013 Portugal Capital Ventures takeover and the 2020 resurfacing.
First Portuguese race since 1996, Hamilton's record 92nd win, the 1:18.750 lap record and 27,000 attendance.
The 15-turn Grand Prix layout, its 2008 opening and F1's scheduled return for 2027 and 2028.
How Much Does the Algarve International Circuit Cost?
Portimão cost €195m ($222m) to build in 2008, according to Formula1.com, and took seven months to complete. There's no published hosting fee. Portugal's two-year return deal for 2027 and 2028 was signed with the government, the state tourism board and the circuit's promoter, and none of them, F1 included, has disclosed what it costs. No fee was published for the 2020 and 2021 stand-in races either.
How Much Did the Algarve International Circuit Cost to Build?
€195m ($222m), according to Formula1.com, which says the permanent facility was completed in just seven months. Ricardo Pina designed the circuit, and it opened in autumn 2008 with the World Superbike finale that November. Parkalgar runs it. None of the sources we checked say how the €195m was financed, and no later upgrade with a published cost has turned up. The track then waited 12 years for its first F1 race, a stand-in added to the 2020 calendar after Covid cancellations.
What Is the Portuguese Grand Prix Hosting Fee for 2027-2028?
It hasn't been published. F1 announced the two-year return on December 16, 2025, in a deal with the Portuguese government, the state tourism board Turismo de Portugal and the circuit's promoter Parkalgar, so the state is backing it, but no one gave a figure. Portugal's Minister of Economy said only that the race "will have a direct impact on economic activity". The deal effectively takes the slot left by the Dutch Grand Prix, whose last race at Zandvoort is in 2026. No fee was published for the 2020 and 2021 races either, both short-notice additions to calendars hit by Covid.
The €195m build cost, the seven-month build and the 2008 opening
The opening with the World Superbike finale in November 2008 and Parkalgar as operator
The two-year deal with the government, Turismo de Portugal and Parkalgar, the minister's quote and no published fee
The return taking the slot left by the Dutch Grand Prix
Portimão added to the 2020 calendar as a stand-in
The 2021 race added at short notice
How Much Are Portuguese Grand Prix Tickets?
At phase-one 2027 prices, three days of general admission on the hillsides cost €300 ($342). Grandstands start at €400 ($456) in the South Area, and the upper tier of the covered Main stand tops the range at €700 ($798). Champions Club hospitality costs €5,824.52 ($6,642) with fees and taxes. The $342 entry price is more than Australia's $299 and more than twice Monza's $144, though a little under the $355 for the United States Grand Prix.
Portimão and Portuguese Grand Prix Questions
Portimão follows the hilly Algarve ground instead of flattening it, so several corners arrive over a rise. Drivers crest Turn 4 without seeing the exit, Turn 6 is flat out and blind, and the ground drops away beyond Turn 13. RacingCircuits.info says the height changes are far bigger than at most modern venues.
Portimão hosted the Portuguese Grand Prix twice, on October 25, 2020 and May 2, 2021, both slotted in when the pandemic wiped out other races. Lewis Hamilton won both for Mercedes. The circuit is due back on June 18-20, 2027, with a second race scheduled for 2028.
Portimão’s F1 layout has 15 turns in the established count, but the circuit’s promoter lists 16. The venue also runs a motorcycle configuration and a variant with a first-corner chicane, and counts get mixed between them. The final FIA map for the 2027 Portuguese Grand Prix will settle which number is right.
The Portimão race lap record is 1:18.750, set by Lewis Hamilton on lap 63 of the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix. Nobody beat it in 2021. Valtteri Bottas took that year’s fastest lap with 1:19.865, and Max Verstappen’s quicker 1:19.849 on the final lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.
The Algarve International Circuit at Portimão cost €195m ($222m) to build, according to Formula1.com, and the permanent facility was completed in seven months. It opened in autumn 2008 with the World Superbike finale, but it had to wait until 2020 for its first Formula 1 race, a stand-in added after Covid cancellations.
No figure has been published. The return for 2027 and 2028 is a deal between F1, the Portuguese government, the state tourism board Turismo de Portugal and the circuit’s promoter Parkalgar, but none of them has disclosed a fee. The 2020 and 2021 races, both short-notice additions during Covid, had no published fee either.
