Lewis Hamilton applauds McLaren's impressive performance at the British Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton commended former team McLaren for their outstanding second-place finish at the British Grand Prix.

Referring to the heavily upgraded MCL60, which Lando Norris drove, Hamilton described it as a "rocket ship" during his cool-down lap, after failing to overtake his fellow Briton following a late-race Safety Car.

Norris, equipped with Hard tyres for the final sprint to the chequered flag, was vulnerable to Hamilton's Soft-clad Silver Arrow behind him. Hamilton made several attempts to overtake Norris at Brooklands and Luffield but was unable to execute the move before his softer rubber started to deteriorate.

"A big congratulations to Lando and McLaren," Hamilton expressed to the media after the race. "It was my family, it is where I first started. So, to see them back up there, looking so strong... that thing was rapid through high-speed corners. Wow, I couldn't keep up."

"We had a good little battle on the restart. Once he went through Turns 13, 14 and 15, he was gone. We had good performance in low-speed, we had a good little battle, but I just didn't have the grunt on the straights."

Hamilton continued, "But to start seventh and come third is a mega job. A big thank you to my team - great pit stops and great work all weekend."

Hamilton's recovery got off to a shaky start when he was forced off-track at Village on the opening lap, falling to ninth behind Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly's Alpine. However, the deployment of the Safety Car to recover Kevin Magnussen's stranded Haas allowed Hamilton to make a free pit stop, surpassing McLaren's Oscar Piastri in the process.

The result sent the Silverstone crowd into a frenzy as two Britons joined race winner Max Verstappen on the podium. Hamilton credited the support from the fans for his top-three finish.

"Once again, Silverstone put on an amazing show. We have got the greatest crowd here, so a big thank you to everyone for supporting," expressed the seven-time World Champion. "I felt the energy, the support, which is the reason we got back up there."

"The start wasn't great for me, but the long run on the Medium was really great, so I think this is a good positive for us as a team to know that we're not that far away. We have got to keep on pushing, and we can catch those guys up front."