It was a marathon, not a sprint.

OK, there was sprint qualifying for the first time in the history of Formula 1 but, on balance, the 2021 British Grand Prix was very much a marathon. When what felt like the entire UK population stumbled out of Silverstone Circuit onto Dadford Road on Sunday evening, Friday practice and qualifying seemed like a distant memory – lost in a blur of papaya and piña colandos. The history books will say McLaren came away with fourth and fifth in the (Costa del) Silverstone sun, but the British Grand Prix is about more than the bare results – it always is. It’s about you, the fans. Nowhere was this more apparent than on social media…

For starters, it meant so much to have fans back at the home of British motorsport and see your support at the track.

Not quite sure what’s going on here, but we’ll take it…

Silverstone was a sea of papaya, but there were a few other colours in the mix thanks to our British GP Collection…

And these awesome kicks made by @Fairol_Maidana:

But why stop at clothing and footwear when you can get McLaren-inspired nails?

Or Daniel Ricciardo under your skin?

@yoliiiboo’s ink wasn’t the only great artwork on display: 

Many of you turned your home papaya by getting into the McLaren HomeFest spirit.

From tickets...

And bunting...

To driver autograph cards...

Well, nearly everyone turned their home papaya…

We’re also acutely aware that McLaren HomeFest might have triggered a sudden spike in office printing costs around the world…

The McLaren HomeFest fun didn’t stop there though, loads of you had a go at our recipes.

There were Piña Colandos…

Mansell Margheritas…

And a lot of Holy Mac ‘n’ Cheese Balls…

As far as gastronomy was concerned, it wasn’t all about the McLaren HomeFest recipes. Some of you went off-piste and brought your own culinary creations to the table:

Sticking with the theme of doing something different, Lando sported a special edition helmet as a tribute to key workers who have worked tirelessly to keep us safe and healthy during the covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, also at the track, there were concerns we might need a bigger car…

Make that two bigger cars…

No, that’s a smaller car…

And this one’s only 2D…

Joking apart, top marks to everyone who tried to get their head around the MCL35M model masterclass, and a very special thanks to Gino Morillo Morales (@GMM1702) for his in-depth guide. We understand he’s already hard at work building the MCL36 out of paper after Formula 1 revealed what a 2022 McLaren F1 car could look like at the weekend.

Lando and Daniel were quick out the box in first free practice, winding up P2 and P9 respectively. They did so without using the faster, Soft tyre and this strategy did raise a few concerns before qualifying. 

With qualifying taking place on Friday, as opposed to Saturday, a lot of people opted not to go out after work – or even ‘out-out’ as comedian Micky Flanagan would say.

P6 for Lando and P7 for Daniel in qualifying was a solid result for the team and, after Lewis Hamilton’s ‘great driver’ comments in Austria, the respect continued to flow between Lando and Lewis on social.

On Saturday, fans were treated to F1’s first sprint qualifying, which was, quite literally, a race for pole. Was it a race, was it qualifying? No one seemed entirely sure as commentators and pundits jumped between the two. Whatever it was, it certainly made for entertaining viewing as both Lando and Daniel jumped up a place during the 17-lap sprint to line up fifth and sixth for the British Grand Prix. There were concerns that sprint qualifying could have been a procession as teams sought to maintain position and protect their cars for the main event on Sunday. But, telling drivers to hold station is a bit like telling them not to say ‘for sure’ during an interview – it ain’t gonna happen.

We know we’ve already covered McLaren HomeFest, but can we just take a moment to appreciate this set-up?

Before Sunday’s race, several hundred lucky competition winners got to tune into Slipstream via Webex by Cisco to enjoy exclusive insight and behind-the-scenes access to the team.

Others were trying to keep cool as the British summer finally rocked up – temperatures soared with the mercury hovering around 30°C, making it the hottest British Grand Prix in more than a decade.

Some were praying...

And others realised the next generation of McLaren fans had arrived…

One of the many benefits of a home race for the team is that it gives friends and family the opportunity to come to the track to see us in action, doing what we do best. No. 1 mechanic Marc Cox’s kids had a whale of a time:

While Marc made another young fan’s day:

As did McLaren Racing Director, Partnership Development Nick Martin:

The British Grand Prix is a huge deal for all of us at McLaren and that invariably requires all hands on deck to deliver the best performance we can on track and the best experience for fans. However, we can’t quite fulfil every fan’s request…

Even if you’re convinced Lando is ‘the one’… 

With Max Verstappen out of the race after he and Hamilton discovered that two into one doesn’t go at the ultra-fast Copse, Lando and Daniel ultimately finished P4 and P5 – just shy of the podium but probably the maximum result based on the pace we had. 

Fifth for Daniel was far from certain; he had to keep Carlos Sainz, who was on tyres eight laps younger, at bay for much of the race. It was a case of déjà vu for fans, as Sainz had chased down Daniel in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix just a fortnight earlier. But, this time, Daniel was able to hold onto fifth and secure his best finish of the season so far. 

Fourth for Lando was not only his best result to date in a grand prix at Silverstone but it put him third in the Drivers’ Championship – a position that, at the start of the season, we doubt Lando would believe he’d find himself 10 races in. 

Unsurprisingly, the result went down well with fans…

Very well...

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