Williams Racing FW44 Launch

Client: Williams Racing
Location: RAF Bentwaters

Vettel's RB5 Scalloped Tail

Client: Racing Gold
Location: Studio

Red Bull Racing F1 Exhaust Manifolds

Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport, where engineering and technology combine to achieve a common goal, speed. In 2013, Infiniti Red Bull Racing became consecutive four-time Constructors' World Champions and with that accolade, it's safe to say they know a thing or two about design.  

These exhaust manifolds are part of Racing Gold's "pART of the team" collection, where in collaboration with Red Bull, they turn race-used F1 parts into manufactured art for you and I to purchase. 

Before these manifolds are turned into a table, lamp or some other ingenius design, I took the opportunity to photograph these objects of desire. 

Sebastian Vettel's RB4 'Scalloped Tail' exhaust manifold is easily my favourite piece, taken from the 2009 Formula One car nicknamed 'Kate'. 

The following two manifolds were taken from David Coulthard's RB2 car. Once featured in a table for Christian Horner's office, the now chrome-plated manifold required a different approach to showcase its flawless design:

McLaren P1 and Sergio Perez

Each year, one hundred and fifty thousand petrolheads flock to the mecca of motorsport, Goodwood's Festival of Speed. Held over three days, the show (unlike any other) lets fans get up close and personal with iconic cars and celebrities as they hurtle up Lord March's 1.16 mile driveway.

This year saw the FoS celebrate it's 20th Anniversary, whilst McLaren looked back over 50 years of remarkable achievements. From one legendary icon, to McLaren's next? Sergio Perez climbs out of Ayrton Senna's MP4-4 and into the eagerly awaited McLaren P1 hypercar, making it the car's first public debut. 

Behind closed doors and with exclusive access, I'm given three minutes to shoot portraits of Checo. Gates unlocked, the car would then weave its way through a sea of spectators before catapulting CAR Magazine's Mark Walton up the hill with McLaren's test driver, Chris Goodwin.

Despite covering 373 miles in two days (most of which before dawn) and spending two full days at the show for just three minutes with famed Formula One driver Sergio Perez, it will remain a career highlight.

The P1 up close is breath-taking, especially in "Amethyst Black" with more exposed carbon fibre than you can shake a stick at.

A mass of intricate details, numerous tell-tale signs show that McLaren's F1 background has engineered the P1 to be a race car for the road. From it's indented nose that channels clean air into the roof-scoop, to the lightweight titanium-alloy wire mesh that surrounds the exhaust. Awesome! To read about Mark's experience in the P1 and see further images, check out October's issue of CAR Magazine.

Silverstone Young Driver Test

The thought of spending £20 for an 8 hour symphony of V8's hurtling around Silverstone is an exciting prospect for any F1 fan.

With the 'Young Driver Test' also being confirmed as a Pirelli tyre test, it meant names such as Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa could be seen tackling the 3.66 mile circuit. 

Susie Wolff was out in force with the Williams F1 FW35, seen above making the most of the available tarmac at Copse Corner.

Despite a technical difficulty in the morning, Gary Paffett's McLaren MP4-28 still managed to lap the Northamptonshire based circuit ~80 times.  

That said, the Silverstone Young Driver Test has to be one of the cheapest ways to experience the atmosphere these F1 cars create at speed. If you didn't manage to attend this year, make sure you keep an eye out for the next!

Behind the scenes at Caterham F1

For most of us, cold winter months usually conjure up thoughts of snow, log fires crackling and putting up your feet... Not in Formula One where teams are hard at work developing the cars to shave hundredths of a second from their lap time in order to battle for next year's title.

New to Oxfordshire's "Motorsport Valley", Caterham work around the clock at their new factory in Leafield to ready CT03 for the season ahead. With it's high gloss floors and bright white walls, the factory at Leafield seems almost otherworldly. Things you would normally associate with an automotive subject are immediately thrown out of the window. Grease, oil or tyre marks are no where to be seen. Despite owning Domke roller cases, carrying them across their immaculate setup felt more appropriate. This wasn't just going to be an incredible experience, but an unforgettable one!

At the time of writing, all of the cars for the 2013 season have been revealed, and Caterham's was the one I anticipated the most. Why? Photographer or not, most Formula One fans would give their left (and/or right) arm to get up close with an F1 outfit. The past couple of months have seen various visits to Leafield to work with the Caterham F1 Team. This meant I had seen hints of what was to come, and to say it was exciting would be an understatement.

Deep within the heart of Southern Spain lies 2.7 miles of challenging tarmac, a circuit which plays host to four days of winter testing for Formula 1 Teams. Caterham unveiled CT03 early Tuesday morning at Jerez, with an updated aerodynamic package and pearlescent green/matt black livery (not pictured). With the thoroughbred-racer currently being put through it's paces around the tough terrain of Jerez, this blog takes a look back at last years contender, the CT01. The very car that Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen used to propel Caterham to 10th position in the Formula 1 World Championship.

To take a closer look at Caterham's 2013 car (CT03), head over to their website to see it in all it's glory.

Event - Silverstone F1 Grand Prix

Silverstone, home of British motorsport and the most exciting racing event of the year - the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Very luckily I was given tickets to this years event, and with a background in motorsport I couldn't turn it down.

To open this great British event, the Red Arrows aerobatic display team thundered overhead performing mind-boggling  maneuvers in the sky. Absolutely superb to watch whilst the crowd stood in amazement.

What can I say apart from the atmosphere is absolutely incredible, a true spectacle to experience. Despite nearly being deaf by Lap 3, you really begin to understand how incredible these machines are (as the pass through Maggots corner at speeds in excess of 160mph, some even bottoming out and causing sparks...see below!).

Just like most motorsport events, spectator safety is a priority, meaning photographers like myself with no press pass experience great difficulty photographing from anywhere thats close enough, or even somewhere without a chainlink fence! Still a brilliant day out and one event I'll definately be planning on returning to next year (perhaps with a bigger lens and better vantage point :D)

To see the a gallery of images taken today, please feel free to click here.

maneuvers