Meet Daniel Waterman, the man who helped create Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren Formula One car — albeit his miniature, animated one.
Twenty-year-old Mr Waterman was one of the animators that created the hit television advert for banking group Santander, which stars British F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.
The 50-second ad begins with a Scalextric box on the floor of a living room. As the toy’s owner leaves the room, we see the flap of the box move and a miniature Lewis Hamilton beckon to spectators and crew to join him in the room. Everyone works in unison to create a track for Lewis Hamilton, who comes to life and drives off.
The advertising campaign has caused quite a stir and is one of the most viewed videos on YouTube. Mr Waterman, who is studying 3D character animation and special effects at Staffordshire University, animated a shot of the car going round the track.
He tells People: “It was a great shoot to work on. I am not a massive F1 fan but of course I knew who Lewis Hamilton was. My sister filled me in — she told me that he was going out with the Pussycat Dolls’ lead singer Nicole Scherzinger.”
He was approached to work on the advert together with fellow student Gary Carse after the duo had previously worked together on a music video for The Prodigy on behalf of Academy Films — also responsible for the Lewis Hamilton advert. Mr Waterman is also working on something for ITV but he is unable to give too much away at this stage.
“We have had such a rush of work, which has been completely unplanned. It’s been great.” He is now planning to launch his own animation and production company.
Mr Waterman lives in Elstree, Hertfordshire.