To be fast at Imola you have to be aggressive, committed and unquestionably brave. Small wonder, then, that the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw drivers push to the absolute limit and, all too often, beyond it. A few inches over that limit left us feeling a little deflated after qualifying, but it all came good on Sunday – our fourth podium in the last seven years – thanks to some spectacular driving, inspired calls from the pit wall and excellent teamwork.

Much like social media, Imola can be an incredibly unforgiving place, but just what did the internet make of a memorable couple of days for McLaren on the banks of the Santerno river? Well, it’s difficult to know exactly where to start after such an eventful grand prix, but we’ll kick things off from when the weekend really started to heat up…

Having finished second fastest in the final free practice session, Lando carried his strong pace into qualifying: pumping in a lap that was initially good enough for second on the grid – and what would have ultimately been third. But hopes were dashed when his lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Nine. The margin? Less than 100 mm. The reaction on social? Heartbreak for some:

Understandably, Lando was pretty downbeat after qualifying – especially as grid position is so important at Imola where it’s difficult to overtake – but Uncle Lewis was on hand to console him: 

Sunday started with Daniel, aka The Real Honey Badger, ‘acc’ taking to social media…

…which certainly got fans going ahead of the race:

And then there was the news that we’re goin’ to Miami…

…which also went down well:

As for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix itself, well, this happened:

Lando was lightning in the opening stages, bouncing back from contact with Lance Stroll on the opening lap which had dropped him down to ninth.

By lap 12, Lando had closed up to Daniel and, with Lando confident he had more pace at this point in the race, the team asked Daniel to swap positions on lap 17 so Lando could try to chase down the frontrunners.

As Daniel put it afterwards, he “swallowed his pride” and relinquished fifth place to Lando in a selfless act that would prove pivotal – a fact not lost on anyone in the team or many of you on social…

The switch soon began to pay dividends, with Lando managing to jump Sergio Pérez during the first sequence of pit-stops while the Mexican served a 10-second stop/go penalty. Lando’s fourth place became third when Hamilton slid off the track and when a red flag was thrown on lap 33, following Valtteri Bottas and George Russell’s collision, he was still in a podium spot with Daniel just a few places back in sixth.

Unlike most of the field, which stuck with Medium compound tyres, the team made the brave call to put both drivers on Softs under the red flag. Lando used them to great effect to take second place from Charles Leclerc soon after the race resumed, while Daniel jumped up to fifth just a few laps later. But it wasn’t long until Lando and Daniel began to struggle with a lack of rear grip. As Leclerc and Hamilton bore down on Lando in the closing stages, it left some…

While others even questioned the call to go onto the Softs:

But Lando managed to hold on to a podium spot, leading many to wonder how he lasted so long on the Softs. The answer: leprechauns and angels…

He even flew like an angel.

But there was still time for a selfie.

And, of course, Uncle Lewis.

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