After spending the weekend at the 2023 Aramco British Grand Prix, I reflect on McLaren's surprisingly successful weekend on home soil.
McLaren started the season woefully, with both drivers finishing in the bottom 6 for the first 2 races (Bahrain and Saudi Arabia). After the 2022 season had disappointed fans with Alpine beating McLaren in the Constructors Championship, another season of mediocrity appeared to be on the horizon.
However, in Austria last weekend the team seemed to be on a positive trajectory. Lando Norris qualified P3 and P4, for the sprint and the race respectively, showing the raw pace of the car across a single lap. Unfortunately in the recently created Sprint Race (25% of the full Grand Prix distance), Norris was hindered on the first lap by the pair of squabbling Red Bulls blocking his racing line. This caused Norris to slow down, and the Brit was in 10th place before the end of Lap 1. Lando's fate had thankfully changed on Sunday, when he finished in 4th place, bringing a substantial tally of 12 points back home.
This weekend saw the annual return of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit. Fan's flocked from across the country which saw a total attendance of 480,000 across the weekend, breaking the record for a British Grand Prix. One thing that I found particularly interesting was the sheer amount of papaya that I saw in the grandstands and the fanzone. The McLaren fans impressively rivalled the support of the Mercedes fans (who previously have been a majority amongst British fans). Notably, the demographic of these fans differed. The youth (mostly under 30's) appeared to be wearing more McLaren gear than Mercedes. However, the diehard Hamilton fans still showed their colours: especially the older ones.
Similarly to the Red Bull Ring, Norris showed the McLaren's qualifying pace yet again. He topped the timing charts in Q1, and finished P2 in Q2. Piastri impressively followed suit, with a P3 in Q2. During Q3, the chrome-coloured McLarens qualified magnificently with a P2 (Norris) and a P3 (Piastri). Lando Norris even took provisional pole on his final lap, and the grandstands erupted with a huge cheer. Unfortunately for the British fans "Max ruins everything" - Lando Norris.
Lando has recently struggled with race pace and keeping his high grid position in the opening lap. However, on Sunday, the young home hero took the lead in the opening lap after Verstappen had a slow start off the line. The British celebrations were even louder than his qualifying laps! Oscar Piastri also impressively managed to hold his position in 3rd place (despite being chased down by by Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari).
This largely benefitted Lando, as his teammate defended for him, and he was comfortably sitting in P2 until a safety car struck on lap 34 (following a Haas on fire). The strategy team interestingly opted for hard tyres whilst Hamilton (on new soft tyres) and Russell (medium tyres) chased down Norris and Piastri respectively (both on hard tyres). Fans surrounding me in the grandstand groaned, as it appeared that McLaren had lost their hard earned points haul. Despite this, the two young drivers surprised yet again with incredible pace on the hard tyres. Hamilton came close to stealing a second place, but Norris defended against the 7 time World Champion. By the final lap, Norris led Hamilton by almost 3 seconds, and Piastri led Russell by 3.5. The British team had earnt a podium and a 4th place at their home race!
Despite losing out on a first race win for Lando Norris, Zak Brown will be very happy with his team's performance. They showed great pace in both cars, earnt a first podium of the season, and jumped Alpine in the Constructor Standings. Significantly, both drivers showed great promise and great results this weekend. Lando and Oscar even performed a "shoey" on the main stage, much to the crowd's delight. The Brits chanted their names, and it was a hugely successful weekend for McLaren.
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