Unforgiving. That’s one word to describe Zandvoort. Don’t get us wrong, it’s an awesome track, a real driver’s circuit, and the atmosphere was electric at the Dutch Grand Prix – the kind where you had to be there to really appreciate it – but Zandvoort’s narrow twists and turns mean overtaking is nigh on impossible and our fate was sealed after a difficult qualifying. We gave it our all, as we always do, but our reward, other than a few stroopwafels, was a solitary point. That may not seem like much right now but, come the end of the season, it might just make all the difference in the fight for third in the Constructors’ Championship.

Here’s what social media made of our first trip to the Netherlands in 36 years…

Before the weekend got going, we paid our friends at AkzoNobel, our official paints and coatings partner, a visit at their Sassenheim site, which is little more than a 30-minute drive down the road from Zandvoort.

After a 36-year wait, Dutch fans were understandably pleased to see Formula 1 return.

And, clearly, the return of McLaren too judging by all the orange…

Even those of you not at the track were sporting Papaya. Looking good, ‘babes’…

Meanwhile, in the words of Nina Simone:
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new cap for me
And I’m feeling good…

Is there any other way to live life, @sqftduncan?

There were those hoping for a signature shoey of a slightly different kind at the weekend: 

Daniel’s homeland, Australia, is pretty far away from the UK but it’s not that far away, is it?

And we have no idea what’s going on here:

In fairness to @SimonGBrooks, here’s what he originally tweeted before @McLarenDoggo was a ‘bad dog’ in Photoshop:

Let this be a lesson to you. Whatever you do, never – ever – let a dog use your computer. They will do stuff like this and accept cookies at every opportunity.

Back at the track, and with traffic making for a chaotic end to the first part of qualifying, Lando made it through to Q2 by the skin of his teeth. But things got worse in Q2…

Ooh, brownies!

Did someone want mayonnaise with those?

Don’t you just love it when someone who isn’t a McLaren fan uses #FansLikeNoOther?

Sunday was a special day for many reasons: the first Dutch Grand Prix in more than three decades, and what would have been the inimitable Freddie Mercury’s 75th birthday. With Lando joining about 26,000 fans in choosing to ride to the circuit on race day, we couldn’t resist tweeting this…

Cue the obligatory replies with GIFs of the legend himself, and by legend we mean Freddie, not Lando…

As the anticipation continued to grow ahead of the race, Zandvoort was bouncing.

Always… 

Some of you found enough time to get creative before the grand prix:

With Daniel starting P10 and Lando P13 and overtaking a tall order around the tight and twisty Circuit Zandvoort, prospects of a bumper points haul weren’t looking great. Until…

…Super Daniel arrived.

@kirstyamcd quite rightly pointed out…

For those who didn’t have something papaya coloured in their wardrobe, oranges would do.

Or even earrings.

A dogged performance from both drivers saw Lando came home 10th and Daniel 11th, giving us just one point for our efforts. The mood on social was, understandably, a little downbeat.

But then, Lando went full Lando after the race…

On to Italy.

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