Just hours after the world witnessed a heavyweight title fight for the ages as Tyson Fury triumphed over Deontay Wilder in the ring, it was Formula 1’s turn to serve up another sporting spectacle in the shape of the Turkish Grand Prix. However, the 16th round of an enthralling season proved to be something of a damp squib. Lando Norris finished where he started, and Daniel Ricciardo missed out on a point after a spirited recovery drive from the back of the grid in a race that was all about damage limitation for McLaren.

This is what social media made of it all… 

The weekend started in the best possible way: with this incredible show of support – talk about #FansLikeNoOther… 

Meanwhile, others were getting ready for free practice. This is some setup:

Lando couldn’t wait to show off his new lid in Friday free practice…

…which went down well:

Speaking of which…

We may be biased but, nearly five months have passed since the Monaco Grand Prix, our one-off Gulf livery still looks as good as ever…

Definitely a keeper, @art_martos…

On the topic of merch, in addition to the usual swathes of Papaya across social, pink was popular this weekend:

Bonus points for the matching hair colour, @kartenkaro:

Along with plenty of you showing off your purchases from the McLaren Store, every race weekend sees fan-made artwork surface on social; this was no different for the Turkish Grand Prix, which was a bumper weekend for captivating creations. 

There were stickers…

Pizza...

Another cracker from @sou_draws…

These little guys…

And this one from @drawgemini, which is giving us serious Danny Zuko vibes. Go, greased lightnin’!

There were also a few mug shots doing the rounds:

Ahead of qualifying, the ‘manifesting’ began.

The results were mixed: Lando made it through to the top-10 shootout but Daniel couldn’t make it out of Q1, as others behind him on the road completed their final flying lap on a dryer track and in better conditions. 

Some 4,000 km away in Portugal, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown teamed up with Sky Sports F1 presenter and former McLaren F1 driver Martin Brundle. They fared a little better in qualifying for the Estoril Classic.

Sunday wasn’t just race day, it was World Mental Health Day and we were continuing to show our support for Mind. If you haven’t already entered the prize draw to be in with a chance of winning a hand-painted T-shirt by Lando or Daniel and help raise vital funds for Mind, there’s still time.

The garage was a hive of activity on Sunday morning, as the team elected to change every component of Daniel’s engine apart from the MGU-K and battery pack – the resulting penalty for making the changes would see Daniel start from the back of the grid. 

Assuming he didn’t end up lost on the grid…

Daniel’s grid drop and the damp weather did little to dampen spirits…

And, as is the case with all good honey badgers, surrender was not an option.

Both drivers made progress on the opening lap. 

We were the first to blink by pitting Daniel for a new set of Inters on lap 21 and into clear air. As others eventually came in to pit, Daniel climbed up the order and picking up a point didn’t look out of the question.

Daniel set his sights on hunting down Esteban Ocon for 10th but, on heavily worn tyres, the Aussie had no grip in the final laps and fell into the clutches of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen. On the other side of the garage, a combination of unusual track conditions, which meant it was difficult to keep the Intermediate tyre in an optimal operating window, not having quite enough the pace to launch a concerted attack on those ahead, and a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton, meant Lando had to settle for seventh and six points.

In hindsight, these shoeys might have been a bit premature – love the enthusiasm though.

Crucially, however…

And we’ll do everything we can to keep it that way at the United States Grand Prix in a fortnight.

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