F1 photographer Mark Thompson snaps world's quickest cars

Published 1148 GMT (1948 HKT) September 2, 2015

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Getty Images photographer Mark Thompson spends his life on the road in pursuit of the world's fastest cars. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Here he is seen capturing Lewis Hamilton as he thunders through Silverstone's Luffield corner at the 2015 British Grand Prix. He manually focuses all of his shots -- like the previous one of Hamilton driving at the 2014 Russian Grand Prix -- and only uses auto-focus to help capture major incidents, such as crashes, which demand photos are taken quickly. Sarah Holt

Photography is a mastery of light and shade -- and in F1's case extreme movement. Thompson has chosen his favorite F1 photos for CNN including this one of Sergio Perez testing for McLaren in 2013. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

As a photographer, Thompson is always looking for a show of emotion from the driver. "Lewis Hamilton is pretty good, he's always happy to win," he says. This photo sees Hamilton celebrating finally winning the 2014 World Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton collided at the first corner of the Belgian Grand Prix in 2012.
"That's probably my biggest ever crash picture," Thompson explains. "It's just incredible when you look at it, and you see the amount of carbon fiber that's shattered in the air." Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Capturing a quirky picture of a driver can be difficult but here Thompson snaps Sebastian Vettel and his shadow celebrating victory at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2013. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The podium photo is one of the most important shots of the day. "The podium is always interesting," says Thompson. "You kind of know how drivers will react." Hamilton, who is celebrating here at the 2014 Italian Grand Prix, is always pretty good when it comes to enthusiastic celebrations. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

In this photo by Thompson, Valtteri Bottas of Williams drives through the tunnel at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2014. "There's so much variety in Monaco and it's so cool," says Thompson. "I'm not bothered about the glamor but for a photographer it's great." Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was so pleased with this photo of him in action during the 2015 race around Monte Carlo that he retweeted it, calling Thompson "a legend."

Thompson says Damon Hill, shown here in 1997, was one of his favorite drivers to photograph. "He had those eyes with a thousand-yard stare," he says. Mark Thompson /Allsport

"When the car is side on, you can also choose to go really slow and lose the background, so all the colors of the crowd are swooshing," explains Thompson, who took this photo of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in motion at the British Grand Prix. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso, driving for Ferrari in 2014, glides through the star and stripes at Austin's Circuit of the Americas but getting a different angle is challenging for an F1 photographer. "I climbed a tree once in Brazil for a shot through the leaves," Thompson reveals. Mark Thompson/Getty Images