Behind the scenes of Mercedes' 2018 F1 launch
An F1 launch is when teams finally go public with the fruits of their previous months' labours. But rarely do they allow sight of their inner workings in the final pre-launch hours. ANTHONY ROWLINSON got a glimpse with Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton inserts an index finger into either side of his mouth, stretches his face, pokes out his tongue and goes: "BLEEEEEEEEERRRRRRGGGHHH!"
"Love it, Lewis," purrs photographer Paul Ripke. "Now, finger up your nose please."
"What?! No way man. No way! I'm not putting my finger up my nose."
He relents and places the tip of his right index digit on the very edge of a nostril.
"That's it Lewis," Ripke encourages, popping frames with his Leica. "These will be great."
The levity is welcome as the end of a long 'media assets' haul approaches for Lewis, Valtteri Bottas and a host of troops from the Mercedes F1 comms and marketing machine.
Share Or Save This Story
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
How a carryover Alpine blighted by politics gave Ocon an improbable F1 win
Why Ocon retains the approach forced on him by his “crazy journey”
The "fashion evolution" that transformed F1 drivers' helmet designs
The status factor that made Ferrari impossible for Hamilton to turn down
The lucrative deal that points to F1 Academy’s health
The increasing hurdles in front of Ricciardo's potential Red Bull return
What’s going on in the F1 2025 driver market?
Ricciardo brushes off F1 future worries, new chassis brings "peace of mind"
Who is riding at the 2024 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix?
Sainz: All my best 2025 F1 seat options are "still open"
What’s going on in the F1 2025 driver market?
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
