Formula 1 testing 2017

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain.

Day 2 of week 2 (Weds. 8 March 2017)

Arrival

Arriving outside the track just after 09.00am from the local train station, I emerge from a shared taxi with three others. When it came to paying all of us chipped in with cash and the driver probably ended up getting the best tip of the day! On first entry into the circuit I am immediately presented with an impressive view of the arena like section of the track from turns 10 to turn 16, set against the hazy early morning hills of the Catalán landscape. This is a good place to get an induction into the atmosphere of the event.

Mercedes, Williams and Red Bull are already on track. No media pass for me, so watching and photographing from the sidelines along with the rest of the punters. Access to the paddock and pits would be great but presents no real problem on a day like today as most areas have open access, including the main grandstand and the area between turns 1 and turn 6.

The feeling

I like the feeling from these motor-racing events. You can come on your own but you are never alone. Everyone’s there with a shared interest. You have to be into it, have some genetic predisposition or conditioning because, to be honest, it would be plain boring otherwise, just a procession of vehicles with no obvious outcome. Ah, but the sound, the colour, the smell, the speed, the location, That’s what makes me stay for 9 hours developing tired feet and aching muscles from walking and lugging heavy camera equipment all day.

Performance

What performance impressed? Well, the usual suspects, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, in that order. All looked impressive out on track but what clinched it for me was whilst doing some tracking shots from the inside of turn one, Räikkönen’s Ferrari seemed to come in to the corner faster, breaking later, just slightly more than Hamilton’s Mercedes. This makes me feel that when it comes to racing we could be seeing Ferrari clinch races from the start down into turn one. Well, that’s my “top tip”. It remains to be seen!

McLaren Honda cap

McLaren Honda

I wore my JB McLaren Honda cap (2016) for the day, not just because I am partisan, I also like the style. Anyway, it naturally brought sympathetic comments usually along the lines of “what a shame”, “they should be up there with the rest”, “we are being denied racing” and “Alonso’s talents are not realized” and so on, all of which are true. Well, they looked slow on the day and appeared and disappeared regularly.

Other action

Other action? Well, in the afternoon Räikkönen went off at turn three; any advantage at the start would be lost by that kind of performance! No more running for Ferrari for the rest of the session. And then, very late in the day, Verstappen’s Red Bull came to a halt at turn 12. This was where I entered the track. Only a few minutes left for the session and my thoughts turn to eating the remnants of my bread and cheese and getting back to the hotel.

I wander outside the track to where I look for a taxi back to the station and, what a coincidence, the same taxi driver from the morning turns up as if on order. We chat during the ride and he waives the extra centimos over the 10€ fare, a pleasant end to a perfect day. Can’t wait for the first race of the season.

Formula 1 photo gallery

9Comments

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  1. 1
    Betsy

    Great post Nigel – captures the feel & excitement of the track, even for someone like me who has never been! Really good quality pictures to accompany in the gallery 🙂

  2. 3
    Bruce

    These shots of the Grand Prix cars are stunning and your text is informative, all forms of motorsports are very visual and you really need to watch live motor racing to capture the excitement, the speeds the cars travel at etc. Great pictures .

  3. 4
    Bruce

    Great photography, really need to go formula 1 to get the speed these cars can travel, the smells the noise etc but good work with the camera

    • 5
      Nigel Buckner

      Yes Bruce, I agree with what you say about being there to get the real feeling. When I arrive at and first approach the track I always get a shiver of excitement on hearing the cars.

  4. 6
    Adam Pengilly

    The up close aero detail on the Formula 1 Testing gallery is awesome! Don’t often get to see the intracacies of the car in such clarity.

    • 7
      Nigel Buckner

      Thanks Adam, it does takes a while and some good fortune, being in the right place at the right time, to get some of the photos. Just hoping to get the other side of the “fence” at some point so I can be more particular from where I can get the shots in.

    • 9
      Nigel Buckner

      Thank you Schmidt. I will be going again this year and look forward to seeing the changes and how the cars behave this time round. Hopefully there will be a stronger McLaren this time.

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