As Lando completed a celebratory lap of the Silverstone circuit, having scored McLaren’s first home podium in 13 years, there was an ear-to-ear grin hidden beneath his helmet that remained there all evening long.

Not long after, the home hero stood elated on the podium after collecting silverware at the British Grand Prix for the first time in his F1 career. Lando had driven his upgraded MCL60 to second place in front of a buoyant British crowd at Silverstone on Sunday, finishing in front of Lewis Hamilton. 

Speaking to F1TV after the race, Lando said: “The whole in-lap, I was just trying to wave to everyone, so a big thanks to all the British fans out here supporting all of us, also for McLaren.

“I just want to say a big thanks, first of all, to the whole team. They’ve done an amazing job, and none of this would be possible without the hard work that they’ve been putting in. It’s pretty amazing, pretty insane.”

The home hero maximised the new-found performance of his McLaren, overtaking championship leader Max Verstappen off the line before dropping back to second, ahead of his teammate, Oscar Piastri.

It appeared as if the duo were set to bring home a double podium for the team, but for an ill-timed Safety Car, brought out after Kevin Magnussen stopped on track. Oscar had already changed to Hards, putting him fourth behind the yet-to-pit Hamilton.

Lando switched to Hards during the stoppage, but those behind him, including Hamilton, put on Softs. This led to a brilliant battle between the pair, including a wheel-to-wheel fight at Copse, as Lando kept his compatriot behind with a defensive masterclass.

It was a similar story for Oscar, who was forced to defend against the Soft-tyred George Russell during the final 14 laps of the race.

“I made a few too many mistakes, maybe, but I did what I could,” he continued. “I brought the fight to Max for as long as possible. It’s a long, lonely race when you’re just in the middle, but it’s amazing.

“It was an amazing fight with Lewis, to hold him off,” said Lando in the TV pen. “Honestly, we should have had a P2 and P3, Oscar did an amazing job all weekend, and he should have been P3 today without the Safety Car, so a shame, he deserved it.

"He deserves his first podium in F1, and it would have been amazing for us as McLaren, celebrating our 60th anniversary with the chrome livery.”

Finishing fourth, it was Oscar’s strongest result in F1 to date, beating his eighth-place finish on home turf in Australia. Despite this, he still felt disappointed to miss out on a podium due to the timing of the Safety Car.

“It’s a different feeling to be disappointed [with] fourth place,” Oscar told F1TV after the race. “We did a great race, and executed it very well, it’s just massively unlucky with the Safety Car timing, unfortunately. I think we did everything we could.

“I’m still super-proud of the team, obviously a great day points-wise. But forgetting the points, from where we started the season to where we are now, it’s quite the turnaround, I have to say.

“It’s a massive, massive weekend for the team, I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve been able to achieve in such a short time now. I’m excited for more, and hopefully, we can stay here for the rest of the season.”

Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Russell were full of praise for the upgraded MCL60 at the end of the race, with the former saying in the TV Pen: “I just want to say a big congratulations to Lando, and to McLaren, where… It’s my family, it’s where I first started.

“So to see them back up there, looking so strong… I mean, that thing was rapid through the high-speed corners, wow! I couldn’t keep up, but we had a good little battle on the restart.”

Lando first experienced the upgrades in Austria and impressed with a strong fourth-place, whilst Oscar finished 16th following damage at the start of the race. 

The Australian rookie received the upgrades in time for the British Grand Prix and echoed the comments made by his rivals, saying that he was delighted to see our improved performance carried over from the Red Bull Ring to Silverstone. 

Although full of praise, Oscar remained keen to point out that it won’t suit every track quite as well as Austria or Great Britain. 

“I think we were maybe slightly wary that Austria could be an outlier, but I think we’ve been even stronger here this weekend,” Oscar continued to F1TV.

“Hopefully, we can keep it going. There’ll still be tracks that maybe don’t suit us quite as well, but I think we’ve made a massive step forward.

“Also on Sundays… With the car I had last week in Austria, I definitely couldn’t have managed the race pace we had today. A massive credit to the team for everything they’ve done, and hopefully, there’s a few more podiums and high points finishes in the pipeline.”

An equally delighted Andrea Stella was full of praise for his team, but to highlight that the car won’t suit every circuit quite as well as Austria or Great Britain, which are both high-speed, power-sensitive tracks.

“We were surprised ourselves in the first stint that we were able to keep our competitors, Ferrari and Mercedes, behind,” said Andrea Stella in an interview with Crash.net. “We thought they would be a problem for us in terms of pace, so I think we have to acknowledge that the improvement seems to be genuine, even in terms of race pace.”

“As I keep reminding, we are in a circuit with high-speed corners, so again it gives a bit of a premium, this track.”

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