The British F1 fans are passionate about their sport, they’re right up there with the Italians but perhaps a bit more polite and this weekend they’ll be filling the stands around Silverstone.
The temperature was about 30C today and it is forecast to be around that mark for the next 3 days and hardly any of the accommodation around the track (which is 100kms from London in a rural setting) has air conditioning.
After settling into the media centre where the air con works a charm (19 degrees) I walked the track in reverse coming across the drivers. The difference between shooting towards the sun (below) 
and with the sun behind me (below), is enormous. 
I came across this machine towards the end of my walk which automatically paints grass or tarmac. It has done a human or two out of a job I’m sure but it’s quite a machine. Simply program the logo into it’s brain and away it goes.
After returning I looked for arriving drivers and team personnel and worked the British hashtag into this shot of Red Bull’s Christian Horner arriving at the track in his civvies. 
Here it is in Russell’s glasses too.
I waited a while for Lewis to step out of this motorhome and was delighted to get a reflection shot of the local favourite.
And here’s ex-F1 driver and current TV commentator Johnny Herbert proudly showing off his electric scooter. 
I found Daniel Ricciardo doing this, whatever that is. His tattoos are certainly vivid. 
Zak Brown from McLaren drew quite a media contingent when he spoke honestly about the team’s chances of success in the wake of Eric Boullier’s departure earlier this week. He was up front about the team’s chances of success in the near future, “This is going to take some time to fix, so I think we are years away. I don’t know whether that is two or 10 or somewhere in between.”
The press conference saw these three gentlemen front the media, 
with Lewis Hamilton winning the jewellery race by a mile. 
The afternoon pit walk drew a big crowd of keen motoring enthusiasts. 
This fella certainly stood out from the crowd as he lapped up the rays. 
He wasn’t the only one to doff his shirt, there were many (men).
The drivers popped out to mingle with the fans. 
Sky Sports presenter Natalie Pinkham was also pressing the flesh with the pit lane walkers while she waited to interview Romain Grosjean. I shot her low with the sun behind her head and her face illuminated by a flash. 
When Romain did arrive he was seated in front of the garage which was much darker in comparison to his brightly lit face with the exception of the lighting above the cars. I liked this shot a lot. 
Back in the paddock, New Yorker Josh Paul was shooting Daniel Ricciardo with his 1913 camera on the first floor of the Red Bull Energy Station. 
Standing directly below him I got a nice smile.
While Sebastian Vettel looked pensive standing at the entrance to the garage late in the day.
That’s my pre-race blog for you, my next blog will be a post-race wrap on Sunday night or Monday morning. Oh, and “go England” in the soccer (or football as I’m required to say here).
