Over the next few days we’re going to publish photographer Drew Gibson’s favourite images from the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with commentary by Drew himself explaining the workings behind the pictures. We start with an absolutely beautiful composition; Sebastian Vettel with his McLaren MP4/8. (RoadRatMagazine)
“When Sebastian was around it could get quite chaotic, so I went to the top paddock where it's a bit quieter. If you're not going to chase hero moments at the house, it's a nice place to be and I thought I’d have a bit of time with the drivers. And that really transpired this time. I think they had to reschedule to get Seb into that batch and when he arrived there were no cars, no cameramen and no support team. The marshals wanted him to go down the hill and I heard him saying, ‘I can't start the car’ - because the support team hadn’t made it to the top to start the engine. I saw the shot but a marshal was trying to get him to move and I had to interrupt him. I was trying to be polite, but I wasn't! I saw this unique opportunity to get Seb with a car like that, with all the space around him. How often have you ever seen him that way? There's no one around and there’s all this negative space. It almost harks back to the 60s or 70s, with the period helmet, no HANS device and a period car. Usually it’s a mess of bins and ambulances and marshals and all the stuff you get these days around Formula One cars – hydraulic lines, cords and computers. And there's none of that. It’s a lovely moment of him alone with the car. That was all I wanted. Just space and him truly on his own.”
