25/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Formula One is famous for its posters and they have a long and storied track record.
It pre-dates the F1 championship itself with the most memorable posters promoting the Monaco Grand Prix in the Art Deco heydays of the 1930s. Pastel shades, palm trees and bold lettering were the norm and the originals are now collectors' items. It is ironic that this tradition got off to such a strong start as it has lost its way somewhat since then. Nowadays most F1 posters don't even catch your eye let alone look iconic. Until now.
The official poster for last weekend's United States Grand Prix features a modern car but has a classic style.
It shares a similar look to the poster promoting this weekend's race in Mexico and there is good reason for that. Both are produced by the F1 Zoom initiative and Pitpass readers can get a 15% discount on the usual price of £20 per poster by entering 'PITPASSMEX' or 'PITPASSUSA' into the code box on the respective ordering pages above.
Long-time readers of Pitpass will be well-acquainted with Zoom as we have been covering it since its launch in 2012. The driving force behind the initiative was putting a new spin on F1 charity events which usually involve the sale of signed photos of the drivers in wooden poses with cheesy grins.
Instead the organisers of Zoom get all of the drivers and team bosses to take photos themselves every year so that they can be signed and auctioned at a gala. It is no mean feat and the end result gives a different view of some of F1's most famous names.
The photos are far from PR shots and often reflect the drivers' personalities and lifestyles. Iceman Valtteri Bottas has a penchant for wintry landscapes as this photo from last year shows. His team mate Lewis Hamilton put his beloved bulldog Roscoe front and centre in 2016 and this year treated us to a view of a stunning sunset that he saw in the Turks and Caicos over the summer break.
Thrill-seeker Daniel Ricciardo prefers to take selfies when he is partaking in adrenaline sports with surfing the choice for 2017 whilst last year it was biking in the desert complete with a camel photo-bombing the shot.
All of the proceeds from the sale of the photos goes to charity and Zoom has raised more than £100,000 since it started. The beneficiary of this year's gala, which took place in February, was Starlight, a foundation which grants wishes to seriously ill children. It's based in Britain, as is F1 and almost all of the teams, but the races take place all over the world so Zoom created the poster series to benefit local charities and promote the races.
A share of the sales from the Mexican Grand Prix poster goes to the relief fund for September's Central Mexico earthquake whilst its counterpart for the US Grand Prix has raised thousands of Pounds for the Austin Center for Child Protection. So the posters don't just look good, they do good too.