Havaianas sponsor the halo on the Force India car. 
It’s a masterful sponsorship deal and to kick it off, they gave away a pair to every F1 media rep after a photoshoot to launch their new affiliation this morning. 
Sebastian Vettel’s haircut has certainly been talked about. Looks like he’s done it himself but that didn’t stop hundreds waiting hours this morning in the hope of getting an autograph as he entered the track. 
I like the new Sauber team jackets seen here covering Charles Leclerc’s slight frame. 
I shoot with a Canon 1DX Mk2 which is capable of taking 14 frames a second. Here’s Joshua Paul from the US who shoots with this vintage photographic unit. He shoots at around 1 frame every 1 minute if he really pushes it. It’s a lovely piece of kit and certainly unique in the paddock. 
Before the first practice session I watched some of the teams running through their pitstop routines and shot low for something different. 
Daniel Ricciardo arrived this morning and caught up with this parents in the hospitality suite. 
I had to laugh when just before the first practice session, the track announcers mentioned that Daniel Ricciardo’s mother was present when the oldest message in a bottle was found north of Perth in January. I took the Ricciardos to Wedge that day and if you read the story by clicking the link above, you’ll understand how Grace’s decision to get out of the vehicle resulted in my wife Tonya’s most amazing find.
In the morning I went to turns 1 and 2 and shot from the inside, both low and from the tower.
Unfortunately nobody went off over the 90 minutes, however, in the afternoon session Daniel Ricciardo went across the grass which would have been a great shot from down low.
I was in the pits for the afternoon session and it was bloody hot! For the first 10 minutes I was thrilled to be shooting from inside the McLaren garage for a team sponsor. Here Fernando Alonso uses a step to get into the car. This is because the halo has added 20cm to the height of the cockpit. The halo has also meant that another set of starting lights have been added on the main straight as some drivers would be unable to see the main set due to the halo. 
There were plenty of cars coming in and out over the rest of the session.
At one stage I needed a breather so I headed to the pit entry area which is shaded and noticed this shot, so I tried it with a few cars. This one of Vettel was my favourite. 
And then I snapped this interesting shot of Daniel looking longingly at his can of Red Bull, which of course isn’t full of Red Bull and he’s not really looking at the can, he’s glimpsing the timing screens on the wall of the garage. 
To top the day off I hoisted my camera with an 11-24mm lens high above a large media pack interviewing the Red Bull drivers and had my son Tyler click the remote shutter. I can assure you this is the only shot of this press conference taken from this height. 
And in closing, here are a number of my photography colleagues at yesterday’s driver portrait session.
Hang on, hold the presses! I’ve just had the funniest conversation with a BBC radio host, (go to 2 hours and 9 secs) Danny Kelly. He interviewed me earlier this month re the message in a bottle story and unbeknownst to me, after I hung up he appealed to his listeners to email me for a free signed photo of the bottle.
I received an email from someone the next day and was confused about the whole “I want a signed picture please” email. I sent one and then let the others “go through to the keeper”. Well, he rang me tonight to tell me his listener sent him a pic of the pic I sent her which he thought was highly amusing. We got onto the subject of my F1 photography and whilst on air, I offered to send a signed F1 pic to someone if they emailed me.
While we were on air chatting, I got a dozen email from people wanting a pic so he’s obviously got an audience. So how about you do me a favour now and email him (danny.kelly@bbc.co.uk) and ask him for a signed headshot of his good self? Please?
Ok now, time to do something else. Bye.
