Chinese GP pics from my time in the pits

[dk]

I went to the Chinese GP last month and was lucky enough to get into the pits during final practice, heres what i saw

My mate works for Pirelli and normally works with Force India and Mclaren

Was told off for taking pics from this vantage point!

Nico was nice, had my picture taken with him.

Hamilton was like a rat up a drainpipe out of the garage, managed to mess up the photos but got a 3 second video where he looks right at me.

Was raining quite hard so challenging conditions, and I didn't have my SLR with me. I swear Daniel never wipes that smile off his face though!

Blast from the past!

quick like Hamilton but still has time for the fans

Cant remember who this is now?

Loved meeting Kai, him and bundle have had some good tussles over the years, had my pic take with him too, nice guy!

 

[Ash']

Looked great! Nice pics.

 

[Mr R.]

No pictures of Natalie pinkham.

 

[dk]

Next we head over to the pit lane for a different perspective, as you can see, really not that many people around compared to other GPs.

amazing time, very lucky, especially as that pass didn't officially let me into the pit straight, only the paddock at the rear!

 

[dk]

No pictures of Natalie pinkham.

i have, but only from a distance on the grid, heres one of DC and Perry though

 

[Keenan172]

Looms brillant mate, I would love to have that experience, think the driver in one of your pictures is Daniel kvyat!

 

[dk]

Looms brillant mate, I would love to have that experience, think the driver in one of your pictures is Daniel kvyat!

ah yes, you're right!

it is an amazing experience, and so difficult to get too, I'm very fortunate that i know a few people in F1 and one of them normally comes through, i spent qualifying in the ferrari Pit at silverstone for Schumachers last year with them, that was amazing too.

 

[Ian_182]

Were women banned from the event DK.Nice pics btw.

 

[dk]

some grid action

great seats!

Pinkman, Brundle, DC and Lauda

i imagined them going in for a little kiss here

just spotted claire williams in this one

horner and hamilton

could see the other side of the circuit too

 

[dk]

little vid from the start, not great camera work as its my P&S sony camera.

[video]https://flic.kr/p/nBYY4D[/video]

 

[dk]

final few pics from the race

the chequered flag fiasco 1 lap from the end

then a lap later...

 

[Lawro]

Great shots!

 

[Cliotoby]

Is that you in the tough mudder photos? With the beard

 

[dk]

Is that you in the tough mudder photos? With the beard

no its not, its my brother.

 

[jongsr4]

Fantastic pictures!

What was Fisi doing there? some demo runs for Ferrari or something?

 

[Pint]

Awesome! You had some amazing seats, you could see everything!

 

[dk]

Fantastic pictures!

What was Fisi doing there? some demo runs for Ferrari or something?

Not entirely sure,that was the only time I saw him, behind the garages.

 

[dk]

Awesome! You had some amazing seats, you could see everything!

Yeah, we really lucked out on the seats, we didn't go for the most expensive, went for the next ones down and it's a massive grandstand so we didn't know where we were sitting until we got there as there's no seat plan on the web, but we were 1 seat away from the platinum top tickets, so was perfect, right on the start line. But because we were high we could see 70% of the circuit, and had a roof for when I rained on the Saturday. Couldn't have asked for more. Never been on the start straight before either but it was great, so much more to watch with the grid stuff and then all the pit stops.

 

[Keenan172]

How did you find the noise of the cars seeing as everyone is making a fuss about it

paul

 

[dk]

Much better in the flesh, they sound 7-8/10 of what they did before I think.

theres a video linked above which should give you an idea, but they sound much better in the flesh than they do on tv. I'm not sure why they sound so quiet on tv.

 

[Cookie]

Great pics dk

I can get pit passes through EMC to wander round the Lotus F1 stuff at the British GP... only issue is that it's about 8 grand a head!

 

[dk]

Great pics dk

I can get pit passes through EMC to wander round the Lotus F1 stuff at the British GP... only issue is that it's about 8 grand a head!

Thanks. It's definitely a 'who you know' sport or how much money you have unfortunately.

we sell to the team, have done since it was Renault f1, I've been to the factory and even watched a GP there a couple of years back.

 

[Goodj]

good work @dk

I reckon the TV microphones are set-up against the Porsches and other support acts, as they were the loudest thing on track in Malaysia!

You're totally right, it's definitely a "know someone inside, or have plenty of money" deal if you want to get close to the paddock.

My morning with Sauber, that took a few years of being a vocal fan....and generally being nice to their Sponsorship acquisitions people

(I didn't do photos in the garage, I remembered that from the Abu Dhabi visit)

 

[JackJack]

Great pics, so lucky to experience that.