#u guys cant even fathom how happy i am that lando's picked up journalism as a hobby

[mcl38]

lando's written another column after montreal! and, as promised, i am providing the article in its entirety here on tumblr so you don't give ad money to the telegraph; article under the cut, enjoy

Why McLaren can bounce back from our weekend of hell - and my view on porpoising row

Montreal was a disaster but 2022 rules mean we can bounce back at Silverstone - and at least I got to play a round of golf with Ian Poulter

One of the wildest things about the 2022 season has been the way in which performance has fluctuated so dramatically from track to track. To an extent, that is to be expected, with the teams all getting used to these new technical regulations. But I have certainly never known anything like it in my career.

The good news is that it means things can change quickly. Montreal was, truth be told, a bit of a weekend from hell for us at McLaren. But there is no reason to believe we cannot turn things around and be a lot more competitive at our home race at Silverstone next week. After all, we went from 15th at the first race of this season at Bahrain, where we were miles off the pace, to fifth in Australia two races later, and then a podium finish at Imola.

Yes, we have been less competitive at the last two races in Azerbaijan and Canada. But we know the reasons why, and we are working hard to put things right.

It felt a bit like everything that could have gone wrong in Montreal did go wrong. In qualifying we had an issue with the power unit which ruled me out of Q2. That was a blow because those changeable conditions were just what we would have wanted, offering opportunities to make up places.

Given the lack of overtaking in the race the following day, every place on the grid was invaluable.

The race itself was frustrating, with the Virtual Safety Car coming out a few laps after we pitted and then getting double-stacked and having a few hiccoughs with the tyre change.

[pic of lando in his car with seb and a very menacing charles behind him]

Shoulda, coulda, woulda. I think a points finish might just have been on the cards had everything gone perfectly in qualifying and on race day, but any number of drivers could say the same. The truth is we did not have enough pace in Canada. And I have to hold my hand up to mistakes.

It was a tough weekend for the team, with my team-mate Daniel Ricciardo also out of the points in 11th. But we will learn from it.

'I cannot wait to get out there at Silverstone'

We have a few things in the pipeline for Silverstone and I cannot wait to get out there, in front of our home fans. Just the drive into Silverstone is like nothing else, all that positive energy, from the marshals on the gates when you first arrive in the morning, to the fans waving union flags or wearing McLaren colours. You feed off the support. It makes a massive difference.

We will do our utmost to turn around our Canada form. We have a few bits and bobs in the pipeline, the track surface is completely different to Montreal and it will be interesting to see whether the new FIA technical directive regarding porpoising has come into effect by then. Obviously, that was the major talking point over the Canada weekend and I must admit to being a bit conflicted on it.

[lando in silverstone last year - pretty orange mcl35m and a bunch of british flags]

The truth is we are not massively affected by porpoising, so we were not pushing for change. But safety has to come first.

If there is a real danger that drivers could have long-term health consequences from the bouncing, or that they could lose focus and crash, then something has to be done. I can see both sides.

The front two teams have clearly done a much better job than anyone else of interpreting the rules, so I can see why they would be against change mid-season.

At the same time, without having experienced the severity of porpoising that others have, I do not want to criticise anyone. Safety has to come first, and while it might not be affecting me now, these regulations are long term.

'I would want my fellow drivers to have my back'

If I had a problem in a year or two which I felt was endangering my health, I know I would want my fellow drivers to have my back.

My main concern is that it is fair for everyone – ideally you would implement any changes post-season – but inevitably it is going to affect some more than others.

Obviously, we have designed our car one way, with a certain philosophy in mind, and it could move things more in our direction or away from it. We shall see. There are people far brainier than me tasked with working it out!

In the meantime, I am just looking forward to getting back to the UK and to our home race. I actually stopped en route for a round of golf with Ian Poulter just outside New York, so the weekend was not all bad. It is no secret I am a bit of a golf nut.

Watching Matt Fitzpatrick win the US Open on Sunday night – for once I was in the right time zone and did not have to stay up to the small hours to watch – was absolutely inspiring.

We will do our best to give the British fans something else to cheer next weekend.

(jsyk, if you want to see lando's monaco article or any of his future columns, i am tagging them all with '#lando's columns' so they are easy to find)