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Life Through a Lens: Hungarian Grand Prix

F1 photographer Mark Sutton talks ESPN through his favourite snaps from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Contrasting fortunes

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/1000s | Aperture: F13 | ISO speed: 200

This was qualifying, in Q2. I had been editing up until the end of Q1 and then got out on track for the middle session. I saw Fernando Alonso crawling round the corner and knew he wouldn't be able to get up the hill, so he'd have to get out of the car - and immediately there's a picture. So he pulled up and the marshals took a while to get to him and he started pushing it. I managed to catch a shot of Vettel's Ferrari passing Alonso pushing the car. I thought it was quite a nice picture because Alonso left McLaren for Ferrari and Vettel took his seat. This image shows the contrasting fortunes they're having this year - even more so as Vettel went on to win the race.

Up in smoke

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/125s Aperture: F22 | ISO speed : 200

This was FP2 and I'd been at the chicane, getting shots of cars jumping the chicane, so I went off to look for some other angles. It was quite hot but I decided to walk and I saw this pan shot against the crowd and put my long lens down. As I put the long lens down the crowd started cheering and I looked up and there was Daniel Ricciardo right in front of me, plume of smoke coming out of the back. I thought he was about to catch fire so I put my other camera down, took the longer lens off for the wide-angle one and this here is the first shot I got pretty much. It was just amazing, he stopped right in front of me and I don't think many other photographers got this shot. He then came over and had a little chat because he was concerned about how he was going to get back to the pit lane!

A game-changing moment

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/1600s | Aperture: F8

I did about 30 minutes of the race and then arranged to go up on the roof, which puts you in pole position for the finish shot, parc ferme and podium. As I got up there it was all kicking off - there were cars coming down the pit lane behind the safety car and I couldn't understand why until I saw the replay. And then everything just happened in front of me, pit-stops, drive-throughs, everything. Being that nearby was great and I was right on top of Mercedes' pit box so when Rosberg came in with his puncture I was right there to capture that because it was one of the key moments in the race and could be one of the big moments in the championship fight with Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari celebrations

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/1000s | Aperture: F5.6 | ISO speed: 400

There's some great emotion in this shot. The team was all ready for Sebastian Vettel when he came in and he was jumping around. To start with he stood on the car with the steering wheel, jumped down to the team, then he got the flags and got back on the car, jumped down and hugged the other drivers - he was constant and it carried on for ages. I knew I had already got a good set of pictures and there was plenty to pick from.

A winning combination

Camera model: Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/1000s | Aperture: F10 | ISO speed: 400

This one tells a great story, not only of the race but of the season so far. James Allison has become a bit of a hero in Italy for turning the team around. He's a very nice guy, just a normal English guy working in an Italian team. It's amazing how many English people have worked in that team and done the business. It shows you can't just rely on engineers from your own country to be successful in Formula One - you've got to mixed it up a bit. This picture is of two of the new faces who have made such a big difference at Ferrari in 2015.

Call on me

Camera model : Nikon D4 | Exposure time: 1/500s | Aperture: F13 | ISO speed: 1600

This was on Friday during the pit walkabout for fans. I went up and down couple of times and then heard these big cheers, I couldn't believe what I was seeing to be honest. Ferrari obviously has an exercise regime before the pit stop routine to warm them up, so they started doing star-jumps, stretching and fighting - I was amused while I was taking them to be honest. I've never seen pictures like this before and usually I'm not there that late but on this occasion the pit walkabout went on later than usual. The crowd was cheering them as they went along as well.