I’m back in Spain for the 5th round of the F1 season at Barcelona. It’s my second time to the track having been here for testing in February where I got a taste of what this sport is all about When I left my hotel in the small town of Granollers (about 15 mins by car from the track) it was overcast but by the time I headed out to start photographing, it was raining heavily. It’s fair to say that wet weather photography is a fair challenge and a little uncomfortable.
My rainy morning was spent waiting for drivers to arrive into the paddock. The early drivers, like us photographers, got wet. 
Those who arrived late morning got the best of the weather. 
One of the last drivers to arrive was Lewis Hamilton who rolled up with his dog much to the delight of the media posse. 
I covered the 2 press conferences which ran back to back and were well attended, in fact, I have not seen more media at a conference this year.
I love this photo because it shows a view of the drivers’ press conference you rarely see and despite having the very best Canon equipment at my fingertips, my iPhone (on panorama mode) was the best piece of equipment for this shot.
The trick with the press conference is to get some expression from the drivers as most of the time they answer with deadpan faces. There are however, moments where you can get a laugh or at least a smile from one or all of them. 
Then it was back to the media centre (which is above the pits and has a fine view of the straight and main grandstand) to edit and upload the pics. 
In the afternoon there was a pitwalk open to ticket holders which saw thousands cram the pit lane. The drivers walked the pit lane signing autographs and posing for selfies, some drivers more popular than others, with Fernando Alsonso being the most popular given he’s a Spaniard.
Later in the afternoon, the drivers joined a host of young go-karters on the track.
They stood behind the youngsters and were faced away from the sun for the main group shot and seeing I only had a long lens, I decided to go behind the drivers and wait for them to turn around. This put them in much nicer light and rendered some nice pics that F1.com used. The site has some 3+million followers so I’m always delighted to see my images appear there through my association with Sutton Images. 
So today was largely about the drivers and the fans although I did take a couple of car shots and there will be plenty more to see at kymillman.com/f1 tomorrow. 
