F1 FEATURE: Behind the Scenes Photos from the F1 Paddock – Part 1

Photos from behind the F1 scenes.  Ever wonder how they capture the sound of the cars on the circuit?  Ever wonder what the speed trap looks like?  Have you ever seen an F1 wheel with the tyre mounted?  Well here you go!

If you follow my Twitter feed, you might know that I spent the Canadian GP in the paddock trying to bring my followers as close to the action behind the scenes as possible.  I’ve decided to share some of my photos here on my blog for those of you not on Twitter.

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of some of the photos.  One has to be quick and cannot always afford the time to sit and take a proper photo.  Most of these shots were captured on my mobile.

Canadian GP Paddock Media Pass

FIA Media Centre – sitting across from Will and Jason from NBC

Lotus rims without mounted Pirelli P-Zero tyres

Pirelli P-Zero Intermediate Cinturato being inspected and prepared

Kimi (The Iceman) arrives to the circuit

Nico Rosberg with Felipe Massa in the background in the post Thursday FIA Press conference media scrum

Sebastian Vettel staying dry during interviews. Very difficult to get face time with Seb, He is one popular guy.

Heikki just chilling in the Caterham hospitality suite. He was nice enough to chat with me briefly.  I tried to find out where the party was, but he insisted that there would not be a party on a working weekend. Super nice guy.

Sergio Perez being very accessible to us for some quick questions

Felipe Massa doing an impression of Robert De Niro’s famous line “You talkiin’ to me?”, in Taxi Driver

To give you a sense of perspective and a close up of the Full Wet Pirelli P-Zero

Johnny and Keith having a quick chat. I can tell you first hand how down to earth and accommodating both Keith and Mark Sutton are.  Top blokes and total professionals.

EJ giving free fashion advice to passers-by. He is the paddock authority on fashion after all.

Spare Medical car – Alan van der Merwe’s other ride

Both Pace cars, such lovely beasts get thrashed around by F1’s luckiest man Bernd Maylander

Preparing the rear of the podium in case the drivers are filmed climbing the steps to the top. Never a missed opportunity for sponsors in F1.

My friend Jordan Irvine photographed with Actor Hugh Grant in the paddock

Close up of the microphones used to capture the sound of the cars around the circuit. I was very tempted to sing Start Me Up by Mick and the boys.

Speed Trap

Pirelli engineers taking a little off the top. Strange rituals in the paddock…I normally get my haircut before a GP

Here is a closer look at the top of an F1 rim.

Possibly on of my top 10 photos of the weekend. Bernie’s parking pass.

Ross Brawn…what can you do?

Ross Brawn – Calm down, one question at a time….

Stared down by Ross Brawn – it was slightly intimidating. I caught up with Ross afterwards. He found it rather interesting that I wrote poetry about F1. When I asked him how he could remain so calm during the conference, he simply smiled and said, “It’s all part of the fun”