• Mark Sutton's 2013 photo review

The season in photos - Part one

December 13, 2013

F1 photographer Mark Sutton picks his favourite shots from the first half of the season

Australia - The driver line-up

This is the traditional driver photo from the start of the season and it shows the entourage that follows Formula One each year. You've got the press officers on the right, the photographers in the middle and then the TV crews on the left. The TV people can't get in the middle because all the photographers get there first so they have to go to the side and wait. We had two of our snappers in that bank of photographers and my brother Keith was to the side with the press officers, so I took this shot from the start tower to get a different perspective. It's a nice atmospheric picture to start the year.

Malaysia - Multi 21

There was only one story that came out of Malaysia but we need more than one picture tell it! Mark said "Multi 21" to Vettel before the podium, and that's code for him to finish ahead of Seb. As you can see with the press conference shot Vettel looked pretty sheepish afterwards, and you can see Newey was also feeling pretty uncomfortable ahead of going on the podium with both drivers. For what it's worth, I think Red Bull should have been as clear on the radio as Mercedes was with Hamilton and Rosberg and just said to Vettel "don't overtake" rather than letting him get on with it.

China - Kimi's fans

These were taken near turn 14 on the long straight and I couldn't believe how packed the grandstands were. It was like having five minutes of fame because they were going absolutely crazy at the front as I walked past. There are loads of Kimi fans in China and I think they just love his attitude. They've tagged on to the ice cream thing and his "leave me alone" quote in Abu Dhabi last year. The only other place where the fans are like that is in Korea and Japan and it's great to see.

Bahrain - 900,000

This is a very special picture beyond being a nice shot because it's actually our 900,000th picture that went on to our website! It's obviously a great celebration for us and it was a nice shot too. I was head-on doing the podium, and then as Vettel left I picked up the 500mm and shot this as he left the podium. It's got a really nice reflection in the trophy itself and the trophy is quite heavy. Seb's holding it in one arm because Gill Jones - who was on the podium to collect the constructors' trophy - forgot to take it! So he's got both trophies and is walking off, saluting his team and is right in front of the list of world champions, which of course also features his own name.

Spain - Vettel v Raikkonen

It seemed to me that the DRS was allowing moves a lot earlier on the main straight than in previous years at Spain, but I waited in position at Turn 1 as I saw Raikkonen close on Vettel and he got the move done right in front of me. The crowd went mad when Raikkonen overtook him, but it was interesting to see how he did it. I followed it completely down the straight on the 500mm lens, and you can see Raikkonen takes the kerb on the inside on the first frame and then he pushes Vettel on to the kerb at Turn 2. I think it took a lot of respect from Vettel to let him come through, as he could have tried to run Raikkonen wide but held his line. It was good, clean racing and a nice sequence.

Monaco - Maldonado's crash

Keith Sutton: I shot the start of the race from a hospitality suite courtesy of my friend Dave - I need to thank him but don't want everyone asking him for access! - and you can get so much from up there. I could see Chilton coming out of the chicane and I got the incident right from the very beginning because I was following it the whole way. I think it's the first time I've used the 12 frames per second mode on my Nikon D4 and something like that is where it really comes in useful. I just kept my finger down and got it from when they touched right through to the end.

Canada - Victorious Vettel

This is a bit different to the usual celebration shots I feature in this column and makes a nice change from the podium. Sebastian Vettel is driving back through the pits following his victory and you can see the Red Bull mechanics cheering him home. It's a shame he hasn't got his hand out the cockpit in celebration, but the problem was an FIA guy was in the pit lane blocking the shot until we yelled at him to get out of the way. If you look in the very background you can see Christian Horner and he waved to him as he went past. It's a nice picture nonetheless and the mechanics create a bit of atmosphere.

Britain - Rosberg celebrates

This is a nice photo because Nico Rosberg is looking right at me with the winner's trophy in his hand and the crowd behind him. When he went on the fence facing the crowd it was a bit of a nothing picture so we were all shouting at him to turn around and give us this photo. He's good value for money, Nico, and he's obviously enjoying his time at Mercedes. Two wins in three races was impressive and if he keeps consistent he will soon move further up the drivers' standings.

Germany - Inquisitive Webber

This was a funny shot. After qualifying Mark Webber peered into Lewis Hamilton's cockpit, most likely at the request of his engineers who probably suspect Mercedes have some sort of special device in there. You can see that he is not touching the car and legally there is probably nothing stopping him having a look as long as he doesn't touch the car. When the teams used to run F-ducts the drivers often had a look in each other's cockpits to see how they were getting it to work, so maybe it's something similar to that on the Mercedes. If there is something in there it is clearly working as it was Hamilton's second pole position in a row.

Hungary - Hamilton's emotions

Lewis Hamilton supposedly dedicated his Hungary race win to girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and there are my four shots of his emotions on the podium. He kept signalling down to the team as if to say 'This is for you' and it looked like he was fighting back tears at one point. He was quite emotional and it was quite weird watching him on the podium. Obviously last year he had Nicole down in the pit lane looking back up at him so maybe that triggered it. Now he just has his manager Tom Shine with him and he flies around in that private jet on his own. The dog wasn't at this race, and I don't think it should really be at any races. Outside the circuit is fine but because he has his motorhome inside the circuit at most races it doesn't work. Anyway, it was a weekend of mixed emotions for him and these podium pictures tell a bit of a story.

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