F1 2021, Co-Op, S02, R03, Portugal

Ran a few laps in preparation of Portugal. Unfair for Brett but definitely need to make the round play out like more of the others. And, hell, I just needed to be more comfortable around here. The track is pretty smooth in surface but there's a fair amount of elevation and a wide variety of corners, leading to a few that are easy to spin oneself around on exit.

Managed to qualify myself 13th, which seemed like a victory, and then followed up a great start (6th place!) by holding on to 10th, which definitely was a victory! Brett was a little off in qualifying (not having prepared, I'm sure) and then managed to race himself right up behind me by the end.

Looks like Brett ran the alternate strategy pretty well. He probably coudl have made the softs last a bit longer but who knows. Ferrari ran both their cars onto the hards. This better not be a sign of things to come (assuming I get my wish!).

Wish I could see just how close I was getting to the cars in front of me. Looks like I was separating myself from Leclerc but evidently had a time penalty because I finished behind him. But I think I was closing up on Sainz and Bottas--definitely wouldn't have been able to pull away but hanging with them all is still a big win for me.

Brett, meanwhile, pitted at just the right moment--came out just in front of several cars and was moving slowly away from them (being on the softer compound).