But for a couple of frenetic final laps, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended as it began: with a standing start. It was a suitably extraordinary conclusion to a typically unpredictable weekend in Baku. A weekend that was tinged with sadness as news came through of the passing of our long-term friend and supporter Mansour Ojjeh. Mansour was a true racer and while fifth and ninth for the team in Sunday’s race might not sound like much after our recent podium exploits, they were the product of the kind of dogged fightback in difficult circumstances that Mansour would have been proud of.

Here’s what social media made of it all…

With Formula 1 unable to race at the Baku City Circuit in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, @alexstanger1993 summed up what we were all feeling as cars hit the streets of Azerbaijan’s capital city for the first time in more than two years:

From castles to ‘well done Baku’ smiles, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix inspired plenty of fan art: 

Daniel was quick out the blocks on Friday and as soon as he topped the times in Free Practice One, calls came to…

After a good day’s work, Daniel’s race engineer, Tom Stallard, was eager to study the data while Daniel wanted to hold hands:

With four red flags – a tally that equalled the record set in qualifying for the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix – qualifying was, in the words of Lando’s race engineer Will Joseph, “pretty stressful.”

Despite strong free practice pace, Daniel’s Saturday running came to an abrupt halt in Q2:

On the other side of the garage, the day also ended on a low note even though Lando posted a time good enough for sixth on the grid; a red flag infringement saw him hit with a three-place grid drop which, as you can imagine, went down well with fans…

Spirits remained high for Sunday however…

Race day started with the sad news that we had lost a dear friend and integral part of our team, Mansour Ojjeh. A visionary and a gentleman, he was an inspiration to us all and our thoughts were immediately with his family.

We raced for Mansour on Sunday, and @McLarenFamily’s use of the ‘Mika-wink GIF’ suggested they knew something about our chances of a good result: 

Despite Lando having to battle back from a poor start, there was a sense around the halfway stage of the race that points for both McLaren drivers was a possibility:

With less than 15 laps to go, and under pressure from his former team-mate Carlos Sainz behind, Lando’s mission to bring home a decent haul of points was made harder by vibrations from his right-front tyre. Although there did appear to be some confusion on social as to the nature of these vibrations.

They weren’t so much this:

More like this:

But a red flag on Lap 48 meant Lando could get rid of his troublesome right-front tyre, ahead of a grandstand finish to the race. Daniel also took the opportunity to switch his Hard tyres for a set of Softs, having fended off another former McLaren man, Fernando Alonso, for much of the latter part of the race.

Handsome, witty, urbane, Lando’s performance coach Jon Malvern, is quite the catch. He’s also got a knack for providing the perfect facial expression to reflect any scenario…

Although we’re pretty sure quite a few of you were taking the @F1girlClara approach to watching Sunday’s sprint finish…

With Lewis Hamilton’s ‘magic brake setting’ proving more tragic than magic and Lando pulling off an opportunistic move around the outside of Yuki Tsunoda in the dash to the flag, Lando and Daniel came home fifth and ninth respectively. It was a welcome return to having both cars finish in the points – a feat we achieved in the opening four races of the season.

Not only that, Lando’s fifth place meant…

Not forgetting applause too for four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who was finally back on the podium.   

Cue the obligatory ‘throwback photo’:

…gnaaawwww.

Join the team

McLaren Plus is our free-to-join fan loyalty programme, bringing McLaren fans closer to the team with the most inclusive, rewarding and open-to-all fan programmes in F1 & esports.

Sign up now, or current members can amend their details in the form below if necessary.