Special feature

Story behind the photo: King Lewis among his people

After every grand prix, ace photographer Mark Sutton of Sutton Images gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to cover Formula 1 from behind the lens.

What an amazing weekend, with huge crowds and the F1 cars looking spectacular around the super-fast Grand Prix circuit of Silverstone.

Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying and led from start to finish in a race watched by 130,000 people, and the celebrations really started after he crossed the line – in parc ferme, on the podium and then crowd surfing with the fans.

I was thinking outside the box about how could I create a different photo than everyone else, who I knew would be hanging on top of the fence looking down on the fans and Lewis. I thought why don’t I join the fans in there surrounding, and look back on Lewis from their position in the main stand on the opposite side?

So off I went, and people were looking at me really funny all the way as I climbed over the barrier on to the track and then under the grandstand, up the stairs and into a seat at the back with the fans. They were asking me questions like ‘What you doing here and who you work for?”

Of course, I told them and let them look through my lens to show them how close you can get from so far away! Lewis then did his team celebrations and the crowd cheered as he climbed the fence and he waved, and then asked for a flag that he waved with pride.

My image shows the crowd’s emotions and his delight at winning his fifth British Grand Prix, and this gives you a new exclusive look from behind the scenes.

Tech specs:

Camera body - Nikon D5

Lens - Nikkor 200-400mm F4

Shutter speed - 1/500th of a second

Aperture - F5.6

ISO - 800