Silverstone 4th July 24

[Icarus]

Thanks for the photos from me too.

[Tank]

Looks like you had a splendid day. Thanks for the photos!

Oh I did! Best day ever. I had a smile on my face all day.

I joined the paparazzi crowd waiting on the inside of the paddock entrance. I met a chap Will and his son Luke. Luke loves Lando and was dressed as 'Little Lando' and had a scrapbook with all the drivers  photos in. So we got chatting and when Lando arrived I got a few shots.

[Tank]

[Tank]

Will and Luke waiting to pounce on Lando.

[Tank]

I did not realise my son Andrew is actually famous in F1 circles. I should have realised as he has 45,000+ followers on Instagram. He got all of these when Lando and he had a radio conversation at the end of what (at the time 3 years ago) they both thought would be their last race together. It got a little emotional and on broadcast radio Lando said 'Are you crying Jaaaarv?' Within the hour Andrew hab 50,000+ followers on Instagram! He does not court fame. His mum was seriously pissed off at his instafame

Will knew about Andrew who had been chatting with me in the paddock. He only put 2 and 2 together later and was annoyed in a light hearted way that he hadn't recognised him and get a selfie!

[Tank]

Thanks for the photos from me too.

You would of loved it. Seeing the cars naked in the pits it is impossible for me to describe the absolute mechanical beauty and perfection. I got a close up look ar the gearbox/rear-axle assembly. It is a drool worthy work of art, as are the Mercedes engines.

Only McLaren photographers are allowed to take photos inside the garage. But Thursday is press and visitors day. If you look in the picture below you'll see a tape barrier. Anybody can take photos from outside that barrier. This shot was taken looking down from the pit wall.

[Tank]

Looking up from the pit you can see the control centers used by the team boss, managers and strategy team during the race. They are known as the 'prat shacks'. This is Aston Martin's Prat Shack

[Tank]

The pit straight. One of the largest as its purpose built. The cars only just fit in the Monaco pits with a few metres to spare. They are known as 'Bum rubbers' as you can't avoid physical contact moving around. You can see the photo barrier better here.

[Tank]

We got out onto the track as well.

[Tank]

Luke aka Little Lando was perfect cute driver bait. Here he is nabbing Lewis Hamilton for a signature. Lewis brings Rosco his pet Bulldog to press day. I actually think Rosco takes some of the pressure off of Lewis. Rosco loves the attention. If he could speak I have no doubt he'd walk around asking for a pat. He wanders around the paddock off his lead with a shit collector/minder during the day. He looks like he loves it!

[Tank]

It's not all glamourous. Cleaning the front axle on the Aston Martin.

[Tank]

The nose/front-wing assembly cost around $250,000 a go. They contain tiny infrared cameras that point backwards at the front tyres so the engineers can see the tyre temperatures. This is one of the sensor feeds Andrew can see on his screen in real time during the race. The feed also goes back to the 'War Room' at McLaren head office where 50 or so engineers work during the weekend.

[Tank]

This is the Haas pit. Haas are the only American owned team. The tripod on the right is a laser and is used in the chassis setup for toe in etc.

[Tank]

The drivers all have their own Bum Bucket.

[Tank]

$1,000.000 of noses waiting to be smacked into a wall!