Lewis Hamilton heaps praise on 'family' McLaren after special day at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton started his home race, the British Grand Prix, in seventh place, but was third when the chequered flag dropped.

However, while the climb up the grid was impressive, it seemingly did not match the remarkable showing from the McLaren team, as drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished second and fourth, respectively.

Hamilton, who started his F1 career with McLaren in 2007, praised the team for developing a 'rapid car' after saying they would always be family.

"Big congratulations to Lando and McLaren," Hamilton said.

"(They're) my family; it's where I first started. So, to see them up there looking so strong... I mean, that thing (the MCL60) was rapid through the high-speed corners. Just wow! I couldn't keep up.

"We had good performance in the lower speed (corners), and (Norris and I) had a good little battle, but we just didn't have the grunt on the straights."

LEWIS: "I didn't do it... the crowd did it! Silverstone put on an amazing show, I felt the energy, I felt the support!"I also want to say a big congratulations to Lando and McLaren - that's my family, that's where I first started"#BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/c7zsklEaKF

An amazing fight

After the race, Norris beamed for securing P2, fondly speaking of the brief battle with Hamilton.

"It was an amazing fight with Lewis, to hold him off," a smiling Norris said after the race.

"I made a few too many mistakes, maybe, but I did what I could. 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."

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McLaren fumbled its drivers' race strategies when it opted to fit both cars with the Hard tyre during the safety