F1 Calendar 2016

The calendar for the Formula One World Championship has been confirmed as follows:

Australian Grand Prix

Melbourne, March 18-20

Bahrain Grand Prix

Sakhir, April 1-3

Chinese Grand Prix

Shanghai, 15-17 April

Russian Grand Prix

Sochi, April 29-May 1

Spanish Grand Prix

Barcelona, 13-15 May

Monaco Grand Prix

Monte Carlo, 26, 28-29 May

Canadian Grand Prix

Montreal, 10-12 June

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Baku, 17-19 June

Austrian Grand Prix

Spielberg, 1-3 July

British Grand Prix

Silverstone, 8-10 July

Hungarian Grand Prix

Budapest, 22-24 July

German Grand Prix

Hockenheim, 29-31 July

Belgian Grand Prix

Spa-Francorchamps, 26-28 August

Italian Grand Prix

Monza, 2-4 September

Singapore Grand Prix

Singapore, 16-18 September

Malaysian Grand Prix

Kuala Lumpur, 30 September - 2 October

Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka, 7-9 October

United States Grand Prix

Austin, 21-23 October

Mexican Grand Prix

Mexico City, 28-30 October

Brazilian Grand Prix

Sao Paulo, 11-13 November

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Yas Marina, 25-27 November

The full F1 calendar can be viewed live at Motorsport website Motorsport.com as well as many motorsport photos here: 

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/schedule/

James Moy snaps up Le Mans photo award second year running

James Moy picks up Le Mans Endurance Photography Award for the 2nd year in a row

For the second year in a row, experienced Le Mans, WEC and F1 photographer James Moy has been nominated as a finalist in the 'Sarthe Endurance Photos 2015 Photography Awards'. An annual competition open to both professional photographers and amateurs alike.

In the professional category James' image has picked up 2nd prize, going one better than his 3rd place award last year.

"I'm very happy to have again been nominated in 2015. The competition is tough as you are up against over 400 photographers that attend the Le Mans 24 Hours each year, as well as all World Endurance Championship races, so to be selected as an award winner amongst my colleagues is a great accolade. I won 3rd place last year, 2nd place this year, and so there is only one way to go from here..!" commented James Moy upon announcement of the results.

The image is a beautiful graphic shot of the TS040 Toyota Hybrid car of World Champions Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi captured in low light at the Silverstone race circuit in the UK. The composition and use of light helped to create the winning shot.

The full list of finalists in both categories and their winning photos can be found here:

http://www.endurancephotos.sarthe.com/galerieWin.aspx?limit=3&typePhoto=pro

James Moy is the official photographer of the Toyota Hybrid Racing Team and more of his imagery can be viewed here:

http://www.toyotahybridracing.com/fan-corner/photo-gallery-fancorner/

James Moy - The winning photo captures the Toyota TS040 Le Mans car at Silverstone racing circuit.

Copyright - James Moy

Copyright - James Moy

F1 Calendar 2015

The 2015 F1 Calendar has been confirmed today as follows:

FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP


15 March Grand Prix of Australia
29 March Grand Prix of Malaysia
05 April Grand Prix of Bahrain
19 April Grand Prix of China
10 May Grand Prix of Spain
24 May Grand Prix of Monaco
07 June Grand Prix of Canada
21 June Grand Prix of Austria
05 July Grand Prix of Great Britain
19 July Grand Prix of Germany
26 July Grand Prix of Hungary
23 August Grand Prix of Belgium
06 September Grand Prix of Italy
20 September Grand Prix of Singapore
27 September Grand Prix of Japan
11 October Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
25 October Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
1 November Grand Prix of Mexico
15 November Grand Prix of Brazil
29 November Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi

Austin F1 Grid Girl - James Moy Photography www.jamesmoy.com

Where has the glamour gone?

Monaco is a funny old place. For 360 days a year it is a sleepy town, known for its orange residents, glamorous shops, expensive restaurants, hordes of yappy dogs and a general `God`s Waiting Room` feel to it. But for the remaining 5 days of the year the Grand Prix is in town, and I am starting to get the feeling that the residents are getting a bit fed up of it.

Don`t get me all wrong, what I have experienced in the past week has been fantastic. The highlight of my year. I love 'nearly' everything about this place. The weather, the track, the parties, the harbour, the ladies, the boats..... oh and a great race.

The only thing I didn`t like about Monaco this year, and I`m not really sure how to say this.

But Monaco, is losing it a bit. It`s just not as exclusive as it used to be, it`s becoming a bit ........Chavvy.

When I first went to Monaco for the GP over 10 years ago it was a huge privilege to be there. I once even arrived in a helicopter. There was a sponsor party every night, or an invitation to dinner and it was all fairly well behaved. Celebrities mixed with drivers and media and mechanics. The streets were clean and nobody dared make a noise after about 1am. There has always been a bit of japery and outlandish behaviour in Monaco with James Hunt topping the list, but it was all done with an air of sophistication.

As the years have gone by, Monaco has started to attract a different type of follower however. The Monaco weekend now seems to be a good excuse for a club 18-30 style Euro piss up. Every evening the section of track alongside the Harbour Chicane becomes a techno disco, come rave party, come strip club. Very few fans actually see any cars on track as they are either sleeping off a hangover or on their way back to Nice from the night before. The streets that used to be covered in Chiwawa deposits are now covered in Chav vomit.

For the fans the Rascasse Bar, was, and still is, the place to be each evening. The opportunity to socialise and have a few drinks whilst standing on the same piece of circuit, that literally a couple of hours before witnessed cars battling along it, is something novel in motor racing. It`s just not quite so novel when surrounded by drunken sweaty men oggling anything in a miniskirt, singing along to a Euro Disco soundtrack whilst supping a warm beer in a plastic glass that has cost you more than your monthly wages to buy.

Not all of these weekend warriors are vomiting in the street. There is another type of Monaco Chav. The ones that sit on their boats, hugely overweight, surrounded by pretty Russian hookers whilst blasting out RnB at full volume. The `nouveau riche` Chav.

Never has the line `Money doesn`t buy you taste` been so true.






 To see our Monaco F1 Photography selection head to www.jamesmoy.com

Donuts are good for you....!

So the people that write the regulations for the “Great Big F1 Rule Book” have finally made a change for the good.

Post race donuts are allowed!

In fact even better than that; the rule now states:

An exception to Article 30.4 (which states a driver cannot stop on track without a justifiable reason) and to the above will be made for the winning driver who may perform an act of celebration before reaching parc ferme, provided any such act;

-Is performed safely and does not endanger other drivers or officials.
-Does not call into question the legality of his car.
-Does not delay the podium ceremony.

 

Sebastien Vettel performs donuts to celebrate his race win. Brazilian Grand Prix, 2014.

So as long as it doesn’t interrupt the show, you can pretty much do anything! Great news..!

Talking of “the show”, the Winter Olympics have held me, and most of the paddock, transfixed for the past few weeks. What an amazing array of disciplines, emotions and sportsmanship. I’ve learnt about new sports, learnt new words and been blown away by the different ways of slipping, sliding and falling over on ice.

The Olympics have provided 3 weeks of addictive sporting viewing to an eager public that didn’t know the first thing about Super G, Slopestyle or Moguls. But it works. It entertains us, all of us!

Isn’t that what sport is all about? It’s the entertainment that we crave at weekends after a gruelling week in the office?

The usual beginning of the season F1 rule change press releases normally mutter something along the lines of, “shaving a 1/1,000^th of a millimetre from the underhanging vortex of the upper support - rule 406, sub section 9, paragraph 3.1 blah blah  blah”, none of which adds to the show....

But what they have done now however will appeal to the fans, the tv audience, the broadcasters and the sponsors; it will make the show better. It is also great to see an improvement that hasn’t cost billions. In fact it has cost nothing. Zero...!

And although I am applauding them, why stop there. Look at the examples and lessons we can learn from the Olympics. Why don’t we throw in some wild card events around F1?

The F1 support race package at most grands prix has been the same for donkey’s years. Does racing get any more boring than Porsche Super Cup? Twenty rich, old blokes, driving around on a Sunday afternoon; it’s the motorsport equivalent of curling..!

Should we not be showcasing new up and coming events that may attract the younger “dudes” to our sport just as the Winter Olympics has?

Let’s take a leaf out of the Winter Olympics rule book.

Why go feet first, when you can go head first.... why take off facing forwards when you can go backwards....why wear safety equipment at 100kph, when a bit of lycra will do, and remember, don’t walk down the stairs, ski down the hand rail.

F1 can learn a lot.

F1 Art Photography

Need to brighten up your office walls?

It is with pleasure we introduce you to a new range of F1 Art Photography just launched online with Memento Exclusives.

More than just your standard motorsport photographs, the new range captures the details of Formula One that you don’t normally notice in a split second. Tyre marks on the kerbs, detail of the wheels, grid girls and their shadows, and painted track markings; these are the more ‘artistic’ images that focus on the small details of the sport and its fascination with precision and technology.

The high quality images are bonded onto floating-style, diamond polished acrylic panels and ready to display. See the full collection and buy yours at mementoexclusives.com

Motorsport Photographer of the Year

James Moy (founder of James Moy Photography Ltd) has picked up the coveted title of "Motorsport Photographer of the Year 2013" during a ceremony on the 5th December at the Guild of Motoring Writers Annual Awards Dinner in London's West End.

James commented;
“I am very proud to be announced as the Audi and GOMW Photographer of the Year. At the end of a very long and exciting season of motorsport it is wonderful to be recognised by my colleagues in the motoring industry. To be presented this trophy at the Royal Automobile Club in front of Royalty, celebrities and many leaders of the automotive industry was a real privilege.”

The winning images were selected from a portfolio of photographic work highlighting the F1 and Sportscar Championships.

Further information of all winners can be found here:
http://www.gomw.co.uk/about-the-guild/news/158-guild-awards-the-winners.html

James Moy - Motorsport Photographer of the Year 2013. One of the winning entries from the F1 and Le Mans portfolio.

Helmets and Overalls

It’s always in the back of your mind. In the same way that a driver must put danger to the back of his mind, you get on with your job adamant that it will never happen to you. There is an element of risk involved with everything in life. Sure, motorsport has a fair share of it, but we are all there with that knowledge, we all take calculated risks, we all have the odd close moment. How boring would life be with no element of risk?

This weekend we have seen 2 incidents where fellow colleagues have been injured in their workplace;

A photographer shooting trackside has some injuries after a GT car crashed into the barrier beside where he was stood at the Zandvoort Circuit in Holland.

And an F1 cameraman working for Formula One TV was struck heavily  by a stray wheel in the pitlane at the Nurburgring GP.

Both guys are injured, but are stable and we hope will recover fully to do their jobs again.

After 2 events such at this (preceded by a fairly dark couple of weeks in motorsport with the death of 2 drivers) there will obviously be a knee-jerk reaction. Everyone expects drivers to have the occasional brush with injury, but when members of the support crew, media and onlookers start to get injured the authorities suddenly sit up and listen!

In my view we should change nothing immediately. The pitlane and track are dangerous areas to work, but they are highly restricted areas. The people that work in these areas are highly experienced and skilled. Of course that doesn’t mean that freak accidents such as Webber’s flying wheel, won’t happen again, but it is impossible to wrap motorsport in cotton wool.

It is a fact of life (and physics) that if you have multiple vehicles trying to go as quick as they can in confined spaces, they are sometimes going to break, fly, collide or bust into flames!

I have worked in pitlanes worldwide for the past 15 years and have seen a handful of incidents. It is going to happen! But I strongly believe that kitting camera operators and photographers out with overalls, helmets and safety equipment will actually make it a more dangerous area. Helmets restrict vision and hearing and overalls restrict movement, three fairly important senses when working in that environment I think you would agree?

The F1 pitlane is restricted to about 6 F1 TV cameramen and about 6 F1 photographers during the race. The cameramen have free roam, but are in contact with their director and advised of where the action is happening. The photographers are restricted to the pitwall only and cannot enter the live pitlane. It is a hectic area, it is an area where you need your wits about you, but the limited crew working there are the best in the business at what they do.

In complete contrast (and an example that seems to be dragged up every time pitlane safety is talked about) Le Mans takes a different view. All media working in the Le Mans pitlane have to wear mandatory overalls and helmet.

But, unlike the restricted F1 pitlane, Le Mans have over 100 people (photographers, journalists, cameramen, sound engineers, directors, producers, scrutineers, bloggers  and pretty much anyone that wants to have a look....) at any one time within the  pitlane. The criteria to get in is very relaxed with no requisite for experience or actual need to be there.

Yes, we can make it safer, but start with the basics; Which is more dangerous?

The F1 pitlane with 12 highly experienced cameramen providing imagery to a world audience?

Or the Le Mans pitlane full of amateur photographers with a desire to snap a nice photo for their bedroom wall?

Get well soon guys.

Red Bull - Where has the fun gone?

There has been much talk about Red Bull in the past 7 days and whether or not they are going to recover from their current driver spat or not? I personally don’t really care. I like Mark and I feel a bit sorry for him but I also like Seb, I believe he is the best out there and he brings a relaxed and intelligent view for an F1 driver, which is refreshing. I’m sure we will talk about ‘that’ race for years to come, and who was to blame, who came out stronger and who - eventually - walked, but for the moment I think I have solved Red Bull’s issues.

The problem is: They just aren’t fun anymore.

It’s ok to win everything. Pick up driver and constructor titles. Sign big name sponsors, and be on the front page of every magazine, but if all you are really trying to do is flog some fizzy drinks then there is a bit more to it than ‘just getting to the top step of the podium!

Now, I am no marketing genius. And it may sound bonkers to be offering marketing ideas to what most people would consider the leaders in that field, but I remember the good old days.

The days where you were dragged kicking and screaming from one Red Bull party to another; where you had to fight your way through hordes of stunning models parading around the paddock for no other reason than to provide a bit of eye candy. I remember Hollywood A-lister’s, helicopters and speedboats.

And what do we have now?

A rather annoying pointy index finger.....

We have a team that win everything but have lost exactly what “made” them number one in the first place: Genius marketing with a laid back, relaxed attitude and a surf dude mentality.

Maybe they should never have got involved in F1? We all know the old Red Bull from ski events, moto-cross, air racing and skydiving; did they really need to splurge a huge part of their marketing budget on a stuffy, up-tight and arrogant sport that is exactly the opposite of where they started from?

Luckily for us though, I think we may just have a new contender heading to the top of the class at the Red Bull marketing school:

Lotus F1 Team, have for me, done it right in the past 2 years.

Do you remember in 2010 when Lotus last came back into F1, with a green team called Lotus, which had nothing to do with Lotus? Lotus then decided that Lotus couldn’t use the name Lotus and so Lotus took Lotus Renault to court. Lotus became Caterham and Lotus who didn’t want to be in the sport in the first place became Lotus F1 Team..... Keeping up?

Anyhow, forget whether they want to be here or not, and forget what they are called (right now) and where the money comes from; the Enstone mob is doing it right!

They have employed the right people to run their team under the management of Eric Boullier. Their marketing and promotion is new, fresh and open. They laugh at themselves. They use Kimi’s awkwardness in front of the media to their advantage. They hand out ice creams, give away free cd’s; they have their promotion, humour and sarcasm down to a tee.

So, Red Bull, to get back in the game forget about your current driver disagreement, don’t bother developing your 2013 car anymore, get rid of that Newey bloke and spend the spare cash on parties, girls, rock groups and ice creams!

Put the fun back in the paddock!

It’s a marketing plan that may just (not) work…..

Red Bull F1 Party - James Moy Photography www.jamesmoy.com

Who Works in Formula One 2013

The latest Who Works in F1 Guide for 2013 is now out.

The iconic guide, now in it's 24th year provides information on all that work in global motorsport. From F1 drivers through teams, engineers, sponsors, marketing personnel and media.

2013 is a year of major change for Formula One, so to make contact with the right person or company you need the most up to date information available. 

Each new edition is 100% researched & updated!

For the last 24 years "Who Works in Formula One" guides have successfully provided the most up to date detailed information about teams, drivers, team owners, key people, crew members, car technical specs, circuits, sponsors, suppliers, engineers, photographers, journalists and many more hard to find facts.

If you want the telephone number of a team or its history, contact details for a sponsor or a supplier, the technical specification of a car, an engine, or information on a key person Who Works in Formula One has it!

600 pages to answer all your questions in one book : biographies, contact names and details, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, facebook, twitter,  etc...

Who Works in Formula One is an invaluable reference tool for both professionals and fans for use throughout the year and to keep for future reference.

By mail :

Who Works Sports Guides Limited
2nd floor
145-157 St. John Street
London EC1V 4PY

By e-mail :

To order or check the status of an existing order: orders@whoworksin.com
For information on Formula One: formulaone@whoworksin.com
For information on Classic Cars: info@whoworksin.com
For information on Motorsports: motorsports@whoworksin.com
For information on Motorcycle Racing: motorcycleracing@whoworksin.com
For information on any other sport or products: info@whoworksin.com

F1 Launches

I've well and truly had enough of F1 launch season.
This time of year has traditionally been one of the most exciting times for F1 fans, followers and the media. New cars, new liveries and new driver combos, have in the past, been welcome events after a 'slow-news' winter. But for some reason launch season 2013 has been a complete online bore-fest.

I have been lucky enough in the past, as a member of the F1 media, to attend some fairly impressive launches over the years. We have been flown around the world to impressive venues and been treated to elaborate shows and spectacles. I have arrived into Venice by gondola with Falvio Briatore and Mark Webber, partied through the night with Bollywood actors on Vijay Mallya's super yacht, I've been skiing with Juan Pablo Montoya, been driven around various race tracks in exotic machinery, stayed in swish hotels and been furnished with free gifts. We even had a private gig from the Spice Girls. Well, it can't all be glamorous....

I know what you are going to say:
We are in a World recession.... teams don't have the cash to spend on lavish trips for the select few.
Bollocks! F1 teams are on average spending in excess of $100 million each year on their activities.
They exist purely to sell stuff.
To promote brands and to give a financial return to the companies who pay to put their names on the side of each car.
F1 is marketing. It is brand awareness.
And to generate publicity that works, you need more than a handycam and YouTube!

The general idea of online launches is a good one. There is no doubt it opens up what used to be a very closed world to the public. Exactly the people that are expected to buy the products that the teams are attempting to promote.
But, my word, does it come with some risks.

And this brings me to why I think online launches do their creators no favours. Just in the last week we have seen team websites that don't work, launches that start late, unknown presenters talking utter gibberish to fill time before the launch and if the video does finally work, then the content is about as entertaining as syphilis. Where is the theatre, drama and action?


The other thing I have an issue with, is that the very nature of a 'launch' is to launch something.
What we see now is the presentation of a bastardised F1 car, created purely to distract the media and rival teams away from the bits they don't want anyone to see. The cars that we have been presented this week bear absolutely no relation to the cars that will run at Jerez on Tuesday, so what is the point? The other element of a launch used to be surprise. What surprises have we had this week? Ohh the McLaren is still grey, yep, the Ferrari is still red and the Lotus still has 4 wheels.... revolutionary!!

Even driver announcements are no longer a surprise. I would love to see Fore India have a driver launch in a week or so, and present a driver to the world through a curtain shrouded in dry ice that is a proper, genuine surprise.....

Whilst social media and digital launches have opened the spectacle to the world they have at the same time taken the spectacle away completely.

Sahara Force India VJM-06 Launch 2013. Silverstone, UK. Copyright James Moy Photography www.jamesmoy.com

The Life Of A Motorsport Photographer 2012 - Part 2

Part 2. (Part 1 of this blog can be found here: http://www.jamesmoy.com/blog.aspx)



The season continues at a fair rate. I knew that juggling my F1 commitments as well as a full season of World Endurance Championship (WEC) was going to be fairly gruelling. And that was before we even got to Le Mans!

Canada is always a welcome trip on the F1 calendar. The city of Montreal comes alive as F1 enters town. The fans are well informed, passionate and come out in big numbers. The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit provides us with some good photo spots too.
I am quite often asked by fans, where to go to take photos around each circuit and how to get access similar to the pro photographers, so avoiding the safety fences? Well Canada is a great example. I reckon 50% of my time at the Canadian GP is spent in the grandstands with the fans.
I even decided to photograph the start this year from the turn 1 grandstand. It gives a great scenic view of the circuit and the colour and drama of the fans adds to the image.

Canadian GP Start, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

This photo below was also taken at the same location. Using fairly standard photo kit, a mid-sized 200mm lens, it goes to show the type of image fans can achieve with a bit of trial and error.

Felipe Massa, Canadian GP, 2012 Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

The Canadian GP always somehow manages to clash with some large sporting event every year.
I remember 2 years ago arriving and trying to figure out why every single resident of Montreal had packed into bars to watch whatever the 'Stanley Cup' was..... in the past we have packed into team hospitality areas to glimpse a view of England yet again being knocked out of the Football World Cup, and I always enjoyed arriving on a Sunday morning to watch the final few hours of the Le Mans 24 hours.
This year however it was the Euro 2012 Football. Germany met Italy in the semi-finals and football fever had gripped the paddock. An exclusive photo shoot was set up for my colleague and a nice informal image of Seb and Nico for the German media.

Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Canadian GP. 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

The British media however were still gripped with Lewis Hamilton. His relationship with his team mate, his girlfriend and his iPhone getting more column inches than it really needed. An emotional win however proved a point for 24 hours at least.

Lewis Hamilton, Canadian GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Minutes after this photo above was taken I was on the road to Le Mans.... I had a deadline to meet. It is traditional that all teams pose for a team photo at the official scrutineering in the centre of the Le Mans town. I knew that Toyota were the last to go through which gave me until 2pm on Monday to get there. So a mad rush to the airport, a flight to Paris, pick up my car which I had already dumped at Charles de Gaulle airport and then a quick drive to the circuit accreditation centre and on to find somewhere to park in Le Mans town.
I managed to arrive with about 3 minutes to spare. The 2 TS-030 cars were just being wheeled into place, I barged my way to the front of the photographers gantry and bingo the shot was in the bag!......Toyota were back at Le Mans!

Toyota Hybrid, Le Mans, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Toyota's story at le Mans has been well covered, but what a return, and I am sure that they will be fighting with Audi for the win in 2013.

Typical European summer weather greeted us at Silverstone, with a re-hash of the muddy field issues of previous years. Fans were turned away, those that did make it spent hours queueing to get in. As this is my home race I am lucky in the fact that I know the small back roads and never really meet any traffic difficulties, I felt very sorry for the fans but also the race organisers who were up against the elements.
Although not the most glamorous of photography I spent quite a bit of my weekend walking around muddy campsites and photographing queues of cars, as I knew this was going to be a big story of the weekend.

British GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

The European part of the F1 season drew to a close with fantastic events in Germany, Hungary, Belgium and Italy providing some great races.

Singapore is one of the F1 photographers highlights of the year. The tight street circuit offers us a great backdrop and the artificial lighting of the night race gives us a chance to experiment more than normal.

As usual with street circuits we attempt to get some unique views of the track offered by the surrounding buildings.

This shot is taken from the top of the Swiss Hotel, one of the highest buildings in Singapore and gives a surreal view of the illuminated track at night.

Singapore GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

The Singapore race is unique for us in logistical terms too. We try and stay on a European time zone, as most of the practice, qualifying and race is conducted at night. Working until around 3am, then heading out for dinner, before going to bed as the sun comes up is a welcome relief to the usual timetable.

Seb Vettel was back in dominant form and in Japan I decided to position myself above the parc ferme for the end of the race, it is always a bit of a gamble and most of the emotion is better captured on ground level, but it does occasionally pay off. This time myself and a few other photographers lucked in as we shouted down to Seb, he looked up and gave the infamous winning finger!

Sebastian Vettel, Japanese GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

My constant circumnavigation of the World continued into the busiest part of the year. 8 non-stop trips in a row, from Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Singapore, Bahrain, Suzuka, Fuji, India and on to Abu Dhabi.

India has become one of my new favourite races. I love Delhi, I love the colour, craziness and happiness of the local people. The circuit itself is good too. Even getting to work is part of the fun.

Paul Di Resta, Indian GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Its a very busy weekend for us, with our Force India connections, and the local interest is fantastic. It's also nice to see our images used on local billboards and advertisements around Delhi.

Delhi Atmosphere, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

A few days sightseeing around Delhi provided some much needed life away from the circuit before heading to what I still regard as the best motorsport facility in the World, Abu Dhabi.
When they created this track they were not scared of out-shining their more glamorous neighbour Dubai and have thrown money and innovative design at this phenomenal track.

The stunning backdrop of the Yas Hotel combined with yachts and orange sunsets just makes this place a joy to work at. 

Fernando Alonso, Abu Dhabi GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Abu Dhabi GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

For me the excitement of the year was reserved for Austin, Texas. Many of the F1 crews had little experience of the USA. In my case I remember leaving Indianapolis back in 2005 having let the fans down, we (as F1) failed to show America what the sport could offer. 
We knew Austin had built a great track and were looking forward to the race arriving, but nothing could have prepared me for the genuine warm welcome, the enthusiasm of the crowd, the celebrity turnout and the wonderful hospitality of Texas.

Jackie Stewart, Matt Le Blanc, USA GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Austin, USA GP. 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

 And so the season drew to a close. I headed to Sao Paulo for the second time this year to cover the Championship showdown.

Brazil has been the home to many Championship deciders in my career. I love the circuit, and the South American vibe.
From a photographic point of view race day of a Championship decider is a tense moment. You have no idea what is going to happen, where the action may take place, and you have a constant felling that you may miss a very important photo. As a team of photographers we plan the race in detail, all possibilities, in the hope that we will provide the best photographic coverage possible.

No matter how many doubts you have it actually always comes together well in the end.

Sebastian won, Fernando was gracious, Michael retired and the fantastic 2012 season was over!

Michael Schumacher, Brazil GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Sebastian Vettel, Brazil GP, 2012. Copyright James Moy Photography - www.jamesmoy.com

Thank you so much to everyone that has been part of 2012.

The teams themselves and specifically our fantastic clients. Thanks also for the help that we get from the numerous press personnel, the friendship of fellow photographers and media, assistance of circuit organisers, and all the fans that follow this great sport.

The New year has passed and the 2013 season is around the corner. We will be on the road again in a few weeks providing coverage of launches, testing and the new F1 season.

My New Year resolution. To provide more blogs and to give the numerous followers of F1 better behind-the-scene access at each event.

See you in Melbourne!




More of our images can be viewed here: www.jamesmoy.com

Contact us here: james@jamesmoy.com