• Life Through a Lens

Bittersweet Suzuka

F1 photographer Mark Sutton walks ESPN through his favourite shots from the Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka fans

Camera model : Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/250 s Aperture: F11 | ISO speed: 400 | Lens: 24-70mm zoom © Sutton Images

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Camera model : Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/250 s Aperture: F11 | ISO speed: 400 | Lens: 24-70mm zoom © Sutton Images

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The race fans came out in force in Japan with masks, coloured faces, flags. They also had Japanese warriors with swords and it was amazing to see them again after missing Japan last year. The Ferrari fans were a bit crazy, I must admit. They had horses on their heads, Fernando Alonso flags - but these were home-made pieces of kit which they had designed at home and built with the Ferrari emblems. All of them are very enthusiastic and it's always great to go to the fans area, I handed out a few postcards they were happy to receive. It's very fun because of their enthusiasm and excitement about having their photo taken - the fans are really part of the atmosphere in Japan, and that stretches back to the Mansell and Senna days.

Kicking up dust

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/1000 s | Aperture: F6.3 | ISO speed: 200: Lens: 500mm telephoto © Sutton Images

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I missed Hamilton going off at the first corner in FP3, but ran down there and got a shot from distance of him walking with the car while it was being craned. At that point it was quite amazing because Maldonado went off at the same corner, I was doing a rear shot of the debris left at the side of the track. He came off at that point and nearly went into the same point Lewis was in - in fact his front wing was still there. At that point I decided to do a rear shot of all the dust coming up, Maldonado just avoided the tyre wall but it created a great picture. Maldonado was very lucky to avoid the wall. That's taken on the 500 as I've swung round to catch his Lotus missing the corner.

Bittersweet victory

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/500s | Aperture: F2.8 | ISO speed: 1600| Lens: 70-200mm zoom © Sutton Images

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It was a sad and tragic end to the race and I was doing the podium shots from the media centre tower, where about six photographers are allowed. I was actually at the chicane on the way back, I didn't see Adrian Sutil's crash, but saw my other photographer Luca and asked if it was worth getting that picture. I decided it wasn't worth it and at that point Jules Bianchi crashed into the recovery vehicle, all of which I didn't know.

By the time I got to the media area I didn't know this. I saw in the distance the TV cameras were focusing a lot on [Marussia team principal] Graeme Lowden and I couldn't understand why. In the media centre some of the Fleet Street journalists came up to me and asked if I'd got anything. At that point I knew nothing and just shot the podium from the side.

That was all I could really capture, it was difficult to understand what had happened. Hamilton passing number one tells a story; his head is down, it's all a bit muted - though I don't know whether he's been told at that point or not.

The youth of today

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/500s |Aperture: F5.6 | ISO speed: 3200 | Lens: 500mm telephoto © Sutton Images

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Max Verstappen had a big amount of interest over the weekend. It's amazing when I consider my son is 16 and how mature these drivers have to be. Obviously his father is guiding him and I got a chance to chat to Jos, who I knew very well from his Formula Three career from when he was racing with Michael [Schumacher]. It was quite weird to talk to Jos as I didn't much when he was in F1 but he was very talkative now; saying Max had done a lot of simulation work and about how many karting races he's taken part of. I had the chance to take some pictures of the seat fitting and the FIA extraction. It's was all very humoured; he was quick but obviously not quick enough as they sat him back down for another one. He's a good looking kid - I think the girls will like him.

Time to say goodbye

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/500 s | Aperture : F6.3 | ISO speed : 11400| Lens: 500mm Telephoto © Getty Images

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Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/500 s | Aperture : F6.3 | ISO speed : 11400| Lens: 500mm Telephoto © Sutton Images

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Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/500 s | Aperture : F6.3 | ISO speed : 11400| Lens: 500mm Telephoto © Sutton Images

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This was the big story on Saturday morning. People had been expecting stories about the driver market but maybe not this sort of situation. I turned up, saw the media waiting and it was amusing because he ran behind and the media missed him. They thought there was going to be a gap between the paddock and the pits wasn't the case. I followed him into the pit lane and into the garage; he started talking to his trainer and looked pretty relaxed. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner then came in and it's a nice set of them talking, laughing, then Horner puts an arm round him, he whispered in his ear at one point, all this stuff. It's an amazing set of pictures to see the reaction and they work well as a sequence - they say pictures tell a story, and this is all a great story.

The final act

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/200s | Aperture: F4 | ISO speed: 1600 | Lens: 70-200mm zoom © Sutton Images

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It was a sad end to the race and we didn't really get many good podium shots - the mood was sad and understandably so, they shouldn't celebrate when another driver is seriously hurt. It was good they didn't spray the champagne and just lifted the trophies and posed for a few photos. From my point of view this was the end of the race weekend really.

It was a case of editing the pictures I'd got and sending them out. I was asked a lot if I got pictures of Bianchi and I didn't - these pictures are still important in telling the story of the race weekend. My job carries on in tragic circumstances and that's why these photos were just as important to send out as us getting pictures from the crash site.

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