Silverstone Thrills & Traffic Stalls:
It all begins with an idea.
Silverstone Thrills & Traffic Stalls: Photographing Formula 1 at Full Speed (and a Full Stop)
by Apollo Photos
There’s nothing quite like the roar of a Formula 1 engine tearing down the Hangar Straight. It’s thunderous. It’s electric. And for a motorsport photographer like me, it’s the heartbeat of a dream assignment.
I recently made the pilgrimage to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, camera in hand and heart racing in sync with the cars. There’s a raw beauty in the chaos of F1 — the blur of colour, the precision in madness, the sheer speed that leaves your autofocus panting to keep up. I captured some of my favourite shots to date — from the deep red streak of a Ferrari slicing through the corners to the fierce, angular dance of the Red Bull and McLaren machines.
But what the photos don’t show is the real endurance race of the weekend: the park and ride.
After an adrenaline-charged day trackside, I made my way to the queue for the return bus — tired, dusty, memory cards full. What followed was an unexpected 1 hour and 30 minutes of being stuck on a stationary bus, parked somewhere between Northamptonshire farmland and my escape route. No movement. No explanation. Just the collective sighs of several dozen equally sunburnt passengers, all wondering if we'd accidentally joined a second queue for the next day’s race.
It’s funny how Formula 1 is about fractions of a second — tenths, hundredths — but Silverstone traffic reminds you what real waiting feels like. And yet, even that frustrating hour-and-a-half couldn’t dim the high of the day. There's something about the way Silverstone buzzes — the smell of hot brakes and burgers, the hum of the crowd, the drama on every corner.
In motorsport photography, you’re chasing speed, story, and emotion — all at once. This trip had all three, just with an unexpected dose of stillness thrown in.
Would I go again? In a heartbeat.
Will I rethink the park and ride? Absolutely.
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Swipe through some of my favourite shots from the weekend — I may have been stuck in traffic, but at least my shutter wasn’t.
