“Kinda sucks as a number, 10… I don’t like it, but it was the maximum we could do.”

Although we don’t have anything against the number 10 per se, Lando’s assessment of our Mexico City Grand Prix for Sky Sports F1 was a pretty accurate one. Daniel had little to show for a strong start, other than a missing front wing and damaged floor, and Lando scored a solitary point after a good recovery drive. All told, it was a tough weekend for the team, but the support from you, our fans, never wavered. Here’s what you made of our weekend on social media…

Before Friday free practice got underway, there was talk of upgrades – we reckon this one has got to be worth at least a couple of tenths…

Lando’s special lid for the weekend certainly had its admirers:

Upgrades and special helmet designs aside, FP1 proved a challenge for Lando and Daniel; they struggled with car balance at a dusty Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and afterward, McLaren F1 Team Principal Andreas Seidl conceded, “We have work to do. It was not the most competitive session for us.”

Things didn’t get much better in FP2, as Daniel’s running was curtailed due to a gearbox issue.

And then, on Saturday morning, it was confirmed that the team had opted to fit a new power unit in Lando’s car. With it being his fourth power unit of the season, one more than the three permitted by the regulations, he would start from the back of the grid.

Still, at least there were nachos.

And many of you remained upbeat about our chances:

Puss-itive thinking?

There was a lot of love for the McLaren App over the weekend:

And, as always, McLaren headwear:

This beauty isn’t for sale on the McLaren Store but we want one. We really, really want one.

Fresh from his F1 seat fit and sim work at the McLaren Technology Centre, a certain ‘VIP’ was in town:

Mexico is one of our favourite stops on the calendar, particularly because of the fantastic support we get from fans trackside, and this year was no different.

Even those of you not at the track were getting into the Mexican spirit:

Mmm, smells like fajitas, @alasdairmulhern:

Our doodles never look as good as this:

Formula 1 is all about teamwork, that’s nothing new, but ‘teamwork’ really was the word of the day on Saturday. After the team worked hard to unlock more pace from the MCL35M and change Lando’s power unit, Lando played the team game perfectly in qualifying to give Daniel a tow down the 1.2-km start/finish straight at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The result: seventh on the grid for Daniel, and 18th for Lando after his engine penalty was applied – even though he made it through to the top-10 shootout.

Daniel’s time of 1m16.763s did make everyone in the garage wince, though: it was just two milliseconds slower than Carlos Sainz’s lap of 1m16.761s. Crucially, however, Daniel would start from the clean side of the grid.

Sunday wasn’t just race day, it was McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown’s birthday and @Formula_Isabel even made a cake to celebrate the occasion:

Zak wasn’t the only one celebrating his birthday, so was Arrow McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist…

And @tnessLX…

Celebrations continued into the first few hundred metres of the race as Daniel made up several places, only for everyone to be brought crashing down to earth when he made contact with polesitter Valtteri Bottas into Turn One and a subsequent front wing change relegated him to the back of the field.

After the Safety Car restart, Lando was up to P14 and Daniel had passed Bottas for P17, but both drivers faced an uphill battle at a track where overtaking is made harder by the DRS being less effective due to the reduced air density at high altitude.

Unperturbed, Lando and Daniel fought through the pack, and once most of the field had made their first pit-stops Lando had broken into the top 10.

Meanwhile, Daniel worked hard to keep Bottas behind.

But, ultimately, a lonely P10 and solitary point for Lando and the team was the most we could achieve.

As Ferrari, our main rivals in the Constructors’ Championship, bagged 18 points, the reality of dropping to fourth in the standings began to hit home:

In summary, the race…

It just wasn’t our day. But there are four more races to go and plenty of opportunities ahead, starting this weekend at the São Paulo Grand Prix! 

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