If you’ve ever wondered who’s behind some of Lewis Hamilton’s most intimate and iconic images, the answer is Timothy McGurr — the New York-born documentary photographer who goes by 13th Witness.
In Episode 8 of The Motion Report Podcast, Timothy sits down with Getty Images photographer Mark Sutton and host David Schneider for one of the most candid conversations we’ve ever had on the show. And trust us — it does not disappoint.
Timothy grew up in New York surrounded by some of the most legendary names in art history — Basquiat, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol were literally part of his childhood world. His father is Futura, the pioneering graffiti artist. But despite growing up inside that creative universe, photography didn’t find Timothy until he moved to Tokyo at 17 and picked up his roommate’s DSLR for the first time.
That moment changed everything.
Fast forward to 2017 — Timothy meets Lewis Hamilton at a Met Gala after-party, has no idea who he is, and the rest is history. Eight years later he’s one of the most trusted photographers in Formula One, with access most accredited media can only dream about.
Along the way he managed to get himself banned from Formula One at his very first race — by flying a drone. Lewis’s reaction? Priceless.
And then there’s Tokyo Drift. What started as a guerrilla-style joyride through Tokyo in a borrowed Nissan Skyline GT-R in 2022 has become one of the most beloved annual traditions in F1 culture. This year — a red Ferrari F40 at Daikoku Parking Area. A moment that needed no translation.
This is a conversation about photography, access, culture and what it really means to document a world champion at close range.
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Timothy McGurr met Lewis Hamilton at a Met Gala after-party in New York in 2017. He had no idea who Lewis was at the time. After exchanging numbers and staying loosely in touch, Lewis invited him to a race and the rest became history — eight years of access, trust and some of the most personal images ever taken of a Formula One world champion.
The Tokyo Drift series started in 2022 when Timothy McGurr and Lewis Hamilton took a borrowed Nissan Skyline GT-R for a guerrilla-style joyride through the streets of Tokyo the night before the Japanese Grand Prix. The video went viral and became an annual tradition. In 2026 the series reached its fourth edition — this time in a red Ferrari F40 at the legendary Daikoku Parking Area in Yokohama.
Read More
- Jack Black, Kimi Antonelli & the Japanese GP: Everything You Missed From Inside the Paddock
- Senna at Suzuka, Typhoons & Championship Deciders — Mark Sutton Previews the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix
- Kimi Cried in Parc Fermé, the Hamilton Photo That Predicted Everything & China’s F1 Explosion
- Behind the Lens at the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix — with Legendary Photographer John Toscano
