Sunday's race was an example of how quickly things can turn around in Formula 1, with perseverance paying off for Lando as he notched his second-best result of the season and first top-five finish since his podium in Imola.

Lando struggled to show pace at the start of the weekend, finishing all three practice sessions out of the top 10, but he turned it around on Saturday with a brilliant lap on a drying track in qualifying, earning him sixth on the starting grid.

Making up two places for fourth during Sunday's grand prix, Lando filed the race amongst the tough of his career to date, telling Sky Sports: "Not at all [easy]. This was probably by far the hardest race of my career in Formula 1.

"I would say it was probably one of the hardest. Maybe not because I had to hold off too many people, but just the level of concentration that you need from Lap 1 to the end, which everyone does. It was also very wet out there, but a great day for us."

#LN4 shot off the line from the third row, overtaking Fernando Alonso when the lights went out and settling into fifth place before an error from Lewis Hamilton gifted him fourth.

The start was delayed by more than an hour due to heavy rainfall, and the track was still drying for much of the two-hour and one-lap race. When the track did begin to dry, the team opted against pitting straight away, keeping Lando out on Inters for longer than many of those around him.

The decision was rewarded on Lap 36 as a Safety Car gifted us a free pit-stop, allowing Lando to switch to mediums and return in fourth, where he would remain until the chequered flag.

"We maximised today, we literally couldn’t have done any better," said Lando to F1TV. "A great job by everyone and by the whole strategy team as well. We maximised today, especially when the others had some trouble, so I am happy. It's been a great weekend, but not an easy one.

"The [weekend] felt like one of our worst, to begin with, but ended up almost being our best of the year, so I am super happy."

Norris chased down Carlos Sainz in the closing laps and got within DRS range of the Ferrari, but then watched on as Max Verstappen locked up and went wide, having overshot an overtake on him.

Deciding against taking the risk, Lando hung back and held onto fourth. Discussing his battle with Sainz, Lando said: "I tried - he was pretty slow to get going, and I don't know why.

"I was quite surprised that I could catch him as quickly as I did, but I don't think I would have [gotten past him] him even if I was one second quicker. Max [Verstappen] tried to pass me, and he went straight on, so it was probably almost impossible [to overtake] in some ways."

Finishing directly in front of Daniel, Lando reserved some praise for his teammate - who charged from 16th on the grid to fifth at the flag - and hailed a positive weekend.

"Fair play to him, he has done a great job. The pace was good, and I feel like I drove a very good, smart race today. It paid off for me and for Daniel - fourth and fifth is much higher than expectations."

Adding 12 points to his tally, Lando is now up to 100 for the season overall and sits seventh in the drivers' standings, with the team up to fourth in the Constructors' Championship, four points ahead of Alpine.

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