F1 goes all arty with oil: Lewis Hamilton portrait

By Peter Adams

Motoring Issues

08 June 2009 14:00

It’s not often that the motoring world slickly merges with art, but Mobil 1 has made it happen. US artist David Macaluso has painted a portrait of Lewis Hamilton using oil not from a tube of paint, but from the sump of Hamilton’s F1 car.

The oil was taken from Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ 2008 F1 car – the vehicle that took Hamilton to the world championship last year. Macaluso then took the oil and created the portrait you see before you.

Over to the artist in question: ‘I’ve been recycling used motor oil into paintings since 2005, so it was exciting to do a portrait of Lewis, and it was a privilege. When people look at my portrait of Lewis Hamilton, I want them to know it contains the Mobil 1 that circulated inside his Mercedes-Benz engine.’

You can see Macaluso in action in the time-delay video player below.

So far, so corporate. Macaluso said: ‘Painting with the Mobil 1 used motor oil offered a wide range of tones and was obviously a very refined product from its texture. It was extremely smooth and very particle-rich, with all the engine dirt in perpetual suspension, making for a great painting medium.’

What does Hamilton think of his oil painting? Is he in love, or does it make him look – ahem – a dipstick? ‘I’ve always known that the Mobil 1 in my race car is an important component that can give us an edge over our rivals in some circumstances, but I’d never have guessed you could use it to paint with; the oil gives this picture a unique look and feel.’

Perhaps! But Mobil 1 is using this unique painting to raise awareness of its involvement in the UK-wide car maintenance initiative Check Your Oil, as next week is National Oil Check Week.

There’s a limited run of 50 prints of the painting, one of which you can win exclusively in a CAR Online competition - coming soon.

By Peter Adams