When Lando crossed the line in second for McLaren’s first British Grand Prix podium since 2010, he hailed it as the best moment of his career so far, but the messaging was clear: this has to become the norm, not an extremely memorable one-off.

Since an upgrade to his MCL60 for the Austrian Grand Prix, he’s taken six points finishes from six races, including a second podium of the season at the Hungarian Grand prix. He’s also qualified in the top three in four of the last nine races and made the top 10 in every single one. It’s in stark contrast to the start of the season when the team scored five top-10 finishes from eight races before the upgrades.

The Formula 1 grid has grown increasingly competitive throughout the season, with six teams taking a podium, compared to last season, when only four teams scored a top-three finish. Considering where we started the season, that we’ve been able to become a competitive force consistently, has impressed Lando hugely.

“We would've been happy with half the step we've done,” says Lando, when asked what has impressed him about the team this season. “To make as big of a step as we have, which I would say is one of the biggest steps taken by any team in the middle of the season, has impressed me the most.

“We want to continue with the improvements that we’ve made so far, maximise our opportunities and make a couple fewer mistakes from both my side and the team’s. Sometimes, we have maybe made a couple of mistakes, just a little bit, so it is about ironing them out and having some more perfect weekends.”

Since making his debut in 2019, Lando has taken eight podiums and one pole position, but a win has so far proven elusive. He’s come close to victory several times - mostly notably at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, but also at the recent British Grand Prix when he led Max Verstappen for a period – and now feels he is closer to that achievement than ever before.

He continues: “It's made me feel a lot more confident that we've been able to continue in a much better way than we have in the past. Whereas, in the past there were always times when the hopes were raised, but we didn’t continue on some of the improvements we made.

“I would say we're also the closest we've been ever over the last five years. So, if there's any time to believe we're getting closer to winning races, it's now.”

Lando has built up considerable F1 experience despite being only 23 years old, and ahead of his fifth season, he became the team’s most senior driver when Australian rookie Oscar joined the team. Despite being the youngest pairing on the grid, the duo have thrived as teammates, finishing in the points 14 times and pushing each other to new heights on track and off.

“He’s definitely pushed me a lot more this year than I’ve had over the last couple of years, which is a good thing,” Lando says. “Every driver has something new you can learn from, though, and you take it all on board. Oscar has that both on and off track, which is good for me.”

An increase in performance means increased pressure with different types of questions being asked of Lando, Oscar and the team, but the British star feels they’ve dealt with it well so far.

“It's a different mentality because you're fighting for much higher positions,” he says. “I think you have to change your mentality if you’re fighting for a podium or a top five. It's definitely tougher to make the correct decisions when you're in that position.

“So, it's changed a little bit for me and the team, but they've dealt with it very well in terms of pit-stops and things like that. We've actually done some of our best work when we're under pressure.”

Lando, Oscar and the team return to action in the Singapore Grand Prix in just over a weeks’ time on 15-17 September.