2012 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix

It was a great moment when I had the chance to attend my first ever Formula 1 race at Sepang International Circuit after the fact that I had been here before for the Super GT as well as MotoGP. As with all racing sports, it is another great way to test panning photography. This time though, the challenge was much higher with such great vehicles like F1 race cars. They go much faster and more agile than other types of racing vehicles.

Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing

The race, as expected, was a wet one. This is what makes Formula 1 races in Malaysia much more interesting. It was havoc! Armed with a weather-sealed Olympus E-3 camera and ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 lens, the weather was of no issue. Let the rain drop and there is no need to hide the equipment.

Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

The sound of 24 F1 cars accelerating from the grid at the start of the race is pure adrenaline and utterly awesome! Just don't forget the earplugs or it will be a real painful experience.

Michael Schumacher - Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team

Fans from all over the world were cheering for their favourite driver and team, with Ferrari being the dominant fan force in Malaysia. The fans were not to be disappointed as Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won the race.

Fernando Alonso - Scuderia Ferrari

And for my case, I left SIC with a big smile on my face. Finally able to cover all 3 major motor sporting events held there. But as with all motor sport events, I leave you with a little bit of eye candy.

The rest of the images can be viewed here. All panning images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 lens. Models image taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 35-100 f2 lens. A big thanks to Olympus Malaysia for loaning me the ZD 35-100 f2 lens.

Mercedes-Benz World, Weybridge, UK

It's been a while since my last blog entry. There was not much photoshoot being done and I was in the midst of relocating to UK temporarily. However, there is no setback in making full use of the opportunity of being in another country, which is why I grabbed the chance to visit this excellent location after getting to know of it from a colleague.

Mercedes-Benz World is basically a massive Mercs dealership like what you can find in Naza World. However, besides having all the greatest and latest Mercs cars on display for sale, it has its own tracks for racing, driving & off-road experience and as well as providing services for kids to learn how to drive.

It is also a Mercs museum. It houses the first Mercs ever built until the supercars of today. There are even a few F1 cars on display.

On the day of the visit, a special exhibition was being displayed there. It was the F1 Exhibition featuring an exploded view of a real F1 car. Basically an F1 car was dismantled to each individual part and then hung at the display area.

Besides the cars and the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to be in an AMG powered Mercs either as a passenger or a driver on the track. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is also available for hire. It is an experience not to be missed. It was great fun being swung around in an AMG S63 Saloon.

If you ever are in the UK around London and love cars, do try and drop by this location. Did I forget to mention that entrance is FREE? More information about Mercedes-Benz World can be found at its official website and its location on Google Maps here.

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II and ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Mk I lenses.