Lewis Hamilton had a heated verbal exchange with a journalist at Interlagos last year. Now Kimi Raikkonen has felled a photographer at the British Grand Prix:
What was all that about?
The man Raikkonen pushed to the ground was Paul-Henri Cahier, a well-respected photographer who’s been taking pictures at F1 races for decades. Take a look at some of his brilliant pictures from Silverstone at Grandprix.com.
Cahier put up this statement on his website explaining his version of events and addressing any suggestions that he might have provoked Raikkonen:
Following the incident involving Kimi Raikkonen and Paul-Henri Cahier on the starting grid of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, that saw the finnish driver assault the photographer, we decided that it was necessary to clarify a few points.
There never was any contact between the two men, nor did Paul-Henri ever touch Kimi’s equipment. Furthermore, the distance at which Paul-Henri Cahier was taking a picture, although close, was completely standard. The photographers who take pictures at Grand Prix races are all professionnals who have been accredited by the FIA, and as the dozen other photographers who were standing next to Paul-Henri Cahier prove, there was nothing unusual or unethical about this situation.
Finally, Paul-Henri Cahier has been an F1 photographer for almost fourty years and has been close to the greatest champions, but none of them has ever behaved in such a rude manner. It is understandable that drivers might get irritable because of the pressure they undergo, but Kimi Raikkonen never even attempted to express his discontent in a non violent way. Paul-Henri Cahier luckily did not suffer any injury, and so does not intend to take any action, but he regrets the arrogance with which Kimi Raikkonen treated someone who was merely doing his job.
Kimi Raikkonen has not made any mention of the incident as far as I am aware.
Wenny
8th July 2008, 21:24
maybe this video will tell u what happened…
http://www.mediafire.com/?oj1yy3me2xg
u can listen that Mark Arnall has said “Mind the stuff…”
Scootin159
8th July 2008, 21:34
My guess isn’t so much that the photographer was too close to Kimi, it’s that he was in his way. I highly doubt the incident was unprovoked though… there may have been warnings earlier on the grid at this GP, or maybe even at other GP.
Green Flag
8th July 2008, 22:12
From the video clip Cahier was right in Kimi’s face, and far too close. Good racing photographers don’t annoy drivers or team members, otherwise they’re just paparazzi and mustn’t be allowed near the grid. If Cahier abuses his position again the FIA should remove his accreditation.
Internet
8th July 2008, 22:17
And this is the man who has got his nickname ICEMAN tattooed on his arm. It’s funny seeing everyone going “oh he’s so cool” ” good for him” etc when you just know that had it been any other driver, the same people would be calling for their head.
Del
8th July 2008, 22:20
In the video that Wenny linked to, even Luca Colajanni was watching Wimbledon !!
Wesley
8th July 2008, 22:33
The way I see it,Cahier was too close AND Kimi over reacted.It’s a wash.
Green Flag
8th July 2008, 22:37
Viewing the video again, Cahier really was in Kimi’s face – Kimi didn’t need to take a step forward to push the photographer over. However, Kimi didn’t overreact; Senna, Schumacher or Prost would have picked up the camera and thrown it 10 meters!
Becken
8th July 2008, 23:00
If it was Lewis or Heikky they surely would take a penalty… Ten places on grid… lol!
Seriously, Kimi should apologize publicly for the rudeness. He could use WORDS to make sure that he doesn´t like…
De
8th July 2008, 23:52
Reminds me of Montoya’s famous “comments” about Räikkonen, he had a point!
Räikkonen apologizes? Sadly, I don’t think he will.
BTW, I totally missed that story at Intelagos 07′. I have to say that frech woman is really annoying! She probably had a crush on Räikkonen, or maybe on Jean Todt.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th July 2008, 0:18
De – The journalist (Anne Giuntini) has got it in for Hamilton a bit. She had a go at him at France as well over the Montreal crash: see here.
Paulo
9th July 2008, 0:37
How else do we expect Mr. Roboto, I mean, Kimi to respond? With words? He barely gets a word out when he wins a race….lol. Anyways, it looked like the photographer was right in his face and these guys should be given more room to focus on their job. By the way, I’m a Kimi and Ferrari fan lol.
Dan M
9th July 2008, 1:03
“Räikkonen apologizes? Sadly, I don’t think he will.”
He did apologize to Sutil after taking him out of the race at Monaco.
mike collins
9th July 2008, 1:22
This idiot photographer needs to take some lessons from Speeds man Peter Windsor..I think it is, he is incredibly sensitive to the drivers and is always several feet distane from them, and then he asks politly.
Because this guy has been around for 40 uyears is likely part of the problem, in that he thinks he has some sort of ‘right’ to be there.
Matthew
9th July 2008, 1:35
Cahier is a photojournalist and let’s not forget that. He was angling for his shot with all the other photographers while being as transparent as possible. A simple “excuse me” from Kimi would have worked just fine if he was in the way.
However as a former photojournalism major and a bit of a drinker I can see the issue from both sides. No self-respecting man with a hangover would ever tolerate a camera flash three feet from his eyes on a Sunday morning.
Steve K
9th July 2008, 1:40
Driver access to the media in F1 is embarrassingly bad. Without the fans there is no advertising there is no race. The media is how drivers are linked to the fans. Take a cue from nascar and force all your drivers to do more interviews pre and post race. If you watch practice, qualifying, and the actual race, a top nascar driver might do half a dozen interviews with the same network, they might even be on the set. It is and should and is part of the job. Nevermind that fans at the race and networks stations have radio access to all teams. They’re drivers, not Kings.
F1Fan
9th July 2008, 2:00
I agree w/ mike collins. Photographers and paparrazzi simply get too close. Ask Al-Fayed Sr.
Shane
9th July 2008, 2:40
http://www.grandprix.com/jpeg/phc/pbri08/sun/raikkonen1-lg.jpg
This is one of the in his face pictures, too close?
Oliver
9th July 2008, 3:22
Looking at the video, the photographer would have been at least 3feet away from Kimi, because Kimi even had to lean forward to push him away. I think the poor photographer may have hit the tip of the umbrella provoking Kimi’s action. But without doubt, he should be admonished, and I mean Kimi.
Gman
9th July 2008, 4:33
Matthew, as a fellow student of communications, I can understand your comment and very much agree with your remakrs. Just one thing- we all know Kimi likes to party, but I highly doubt he had any sort of hangover before that or any other GP. He lives the life, but he’s dead serious when it comes to the racing.
Looking at it from Kimi’s perspective, perhaps he saw the grass behind him and just thought the shove was good-natured fun. Or, if there was some anger, he thought the guy would not be seriously injured. It’s far from the biggest injustice in the sport, but Kimi would be wise to issue a simple apology.
For any of my fellow Americans on here, it reminds me quite a bit of Kenny Rogers(the MLB pitcher, not the country singer)assaulting the cameraman a few years back when he was with Texas…the main difference is Kimi diden’t have the height advantage to intimidate the cameraman!!!
Lustigson
9th July 2008, 7:26
It’s simple: this stuff just happens in a pressure cooker that the Sunday grid is.
DG
9th July 2008, 8:27
Hmmmm, the Iceman losing his cool? Showing a bit of emotion? No, there won’t be an apology from that direction – just a FIA directive making it impossible for the photographers to do their job!
We are lucky Max is distracted at the moment or we would be getting an earful from him about it too….
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th July 2008, 8:55
I’ve been around races a bit and from looking at this video Cahier didn’t get any closer than I’ve seen other photographers doing. It looks like Raikkonen didn’t realise Cahier was there when he turned round. It might even be forgivable that he pushed the guy over as an instictive reaction. But to then ignore him and not apologise after is very poor. I think there would be a lot more vitriol spouted about this if the driver in question was Lewis Hamilton…
cgmasson
9th July 2008, 9:08
In the UK, for sure but part of that would be because it would be in such contrast the high controlled media image that is being pursued by camp Hamilton.
Kimi has always had a bit of ‘**** you’ attitude so it isn’t seen as news worthy. Unfair, on a personal level, maybe.
Michael K
9th July 2008, 9:15
I don’t know why you are missing the point, Monsieur Cahier stepped on Kimi’s bag, which you can clearly see in the video. Kimi reacted to that by pushing him away. Who knows what is in the bag, etc.. Maybe a harsh reaction, but I would’ve reacted the same way if some idiot can’t watch where he’s going and steps on my stuff doesn’t apologize and just keeps pushing his lens into my face. No apology needed, it happened and maybe the super-photographer watches where he steps next time when he’s around people.
Johnny
9th July 2008, 9:33
I think it’s pretty clear that he did step on Kimi’s stuff since Mark Arnall is already yelling at him before Kimi takes him down. Still an overreaction from Kimi, but he’s preparing for the race and we already know he dislikes photographers…
I’d say it’s a case of wrong place at the wrong time.
Jean
9th July 2008, 10:34
To me it looks very much like Cahier steps on the bag which was right in front of Kimi’s feet , showing he was far too close already. Kimi then pushes him away , in a move which clearly is done to get his feet off the bag , but then unfortunately Cahier loses his balance and falls. I don’t think Kimi is the sort of bloke to harm someone deliberately – or else he would have probably had a go at Hamilton after the Montreal episode.
Terry Fabulous
9th July 2008, 11:08
Kimi needs to pull his head in. It is NEVER acceptable to push people around to get what they want.
I agree, imagine the hoo haa if Lewis had done this.
What a Wayne Kerr
Abhishek
9th July 2008, 11:26
Kimi must really be frustated because of last few results and these kind of things is a result of this frustation. He should never-the-less apologize.
Jolene
9th July 2008, 12:09
Keith,you are spot on. If it had been Lewis the discussion would now be about how typically immature and frustrated Lewis’ actions are but now that its Kimi, it must be swept under the carpet as one of those things.As fans of the sport we should never condone such behaviour from drivers,no matter who they are.
KB
9th July 2008, 12:44
Must every story be about LH, even when its not…get real
Michael K
9th July 2008, 14:07
If it would be up to me I would like to have the old fist fights back in F1. None of this pseudo-politically correct corporate-hospitality rubbish. The fights were usually bad from a boxing perspective, but they cheered me up!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th July 2008, 14:57
More on the incident here
William Wilgus
9th July 2008, 16:16
I’m an amateur photographer, and the photographer was way too close to get a decent photo. Further, kimi’s shove can be seen as a defensive move—literally—and I see no reason for him to apologize. Had I been the photographer and been shoved for being too close, I would have apologized to Kimi. While it is true that the drivers might not be there if it wasn’t for the fans, the fans certainly wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the drivers. Since Kimi had his helmet on, the photographer should have realized—especially in view of his 40 years of experience—that the time for the `dog and pony show’ aspect of the event was over.
wolf
9th July 2008, 20:00
is this Cahier looking for detailed photo of Kimi-s skin to guess the cosmetics he is useing…..
Verbal
9th July 2008, 20:46
after watching the vid you can see there’s no story there, it wasnt an agressive push and the photo-man tripped makes nothing of it gets up and just dusts himself off.
Chaz
9th July 2008, 21:30
He may have been doing his job and been as close as any other photographer doing there’s but frankly he was way to close in his face for comfort. Put yourself in Kimi’s shoes. I’m sure most would respond the same. Lets be sensible and respect the drivers space. After all thats why cameras have zoom lenses…
Jess
9th July 2008, 21:40
I don’t trust anyone who can’t spell “forty”.
Plus I think he was definitely a little too close to Kimi. If he’s so experienced, then maybe he should have realised that Kimi isn’t exactly the go-to guy for paparazzi style photographs.
Melanie
9th July 2008, 22:04
This is what Darren Heath had to say:
“One place in front of McLaren’s number one on the Silverstone grid, the reigning world champion seemed tetchy and tight, not usual for this coolest of customers. While working closely with Ferrari for their stunning new magazine, I was shadowing Kimi for the last half-hour before the start for a feature on race preparation.”
“As a (respectful) photographer, one is acutely aware that there is a barrier that should not be crossed when shooting the drivers on the grid. They’re in the zone, race-face-on, thinking strategy and starts. Enter into this comfort zone and you’re likely to get a firm shove from a mechanic or minder – but not usually the driver.
Down he goes, a crumpled heap of man, flash guns, cables and cameras. One photographer had got too close and Kimi had taken action, firmly shoving the press man away. A tense few seconds ensued as the snapper thought to retaliate, the wound-up Finn turning away and defusing the situation.”
One can only wonder at his mood two hours later.
http://www.darrenheath.com/blogs.htm?big=69
Snoopy
10th July 2008, 5:16
I was supprised when i saw that video. Howcome photographer can be that close of drivers just before race? And what kind of photographer stand top of drivers staff? Every professional photographer knows that drivers have their own way before race, and their driving staff are VERY VERY private.
Professional photographer knows as well that drivers have their own personality and respect that. ALL finnish people hate when somebody come too close and inside their private area.
And in Kimis case photograper A. Came too close B. Stand top of his staff C. Did not respect Kimis consentration before race.
Lewis did same to tv camera in Canada.
rahzam
10th July 2008, 8:29
Kimi first looked down on his bag and then pushed this guy. It was impossible for Kimi to pick bag without pushing this guy. And delay means penalty.
Cahier has increased Kimi’s blood pressure which can even affect his race. So Cahier should be saying sorry no Kimi.
Tols
10th July 2008, 8:57
Cahier was too close (especially for a pro), but Kimi over-reacted (especially for a pro), because he was high on adrenaline. Both should say sorry, over and out.
rahzam
10th July 2008, 8:59
no Kimi = not Kimi
Becken
10th July 2008, 17:59
Keith,
The father of Paul-Henry Cahier has died:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20562.html
will
14th July 2008, 14:18
the photographer were to close. he was in kimi space and kimi removed him. these guys are very fit, strong and have huge stamina. it would be easy for kimi to break his neck if he wanted to, if he was angry or lost his cool. he didnt, he removed him from his space. the photographer has no “right” to be there.
i met kimi, people misunderstand him. he is not a pink / fluffy / smiley guy link some of the others on the grid. he just does his job. no one complains if hamiltom giggles like a girl, maybe more people are like the pink and fluffy hamilton and thus it is accepted. that is not kimi’s personality. the opposite is his personality, and that in my opinion makes him unbeatable is conditions are right. why is he the highest paid ever f1 driver? Ferrari pays kimi NOT to drive for anyone else.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th July 2008, 14:49
Will – look at the video. Cahier’s got a tabard on. He had every right to be there.
Becken – I saw, that’s very sad. Don’t imagine this little incident with Raikkonen matters at all to Paul-Henri Cahier now.
Kevin
14th July 2008, 15:03
(I only skimmed over the comments above me, my apologies if this was covered)
Does anyone know if *this* is the shot Cahier fired off right as Kimi pushed him?
http://www.grandprix.com/jpeg/phc/pbri08/sun/raikkonen1-lg.jpg
will
14th July 2008, 15:43
keith
i was there keith, at silverstone with a vip pass. i saw the whole thing. Cahier was to close. I also feel sorry for him, as his dad just died, but in all fairness, he was to close.
Cahier moved in from the side, stepping ON kimi’s bag, bending down a bit, sticking the long lens directly in kimi’s face. probably 30cm from kimis face. thats not on. Cahier should know the rules.
think of it this way, he was closer than baldie (kimi’s trainer). also, everything was very very wet. Cahier stepped on kimi’s racing gear with his wet feet. again, not on.
it is my opinion that Cahier was wrong. kimi wasnt “right” either, but probably not in a mood to converse with Cahier. so he send him a clear message. after that no-one got so close again and no-one was pushed.
from a legal point of view its simple (and that whay Cahier doesnt want to take it further):
Cahier has the right to be on the grid, but hasnt got the right to enter anyone personal space. he came over to kimi, while kimi was standing still minding his own business. Cahier interfered with kimi’s job, it could be argued that he could have potentially damaged kimis equipment.
will
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th July 2008, 15:58
I still don’t think it’s reasonable to push someone over just because they’ve accidentally stepped on your bag. If I did that I’d expect to get in trouble.
Were you on the grid then? Lucky thing!
will
14th July 2008, 16:27
we would have to disagree then keith. with all due respect to yourself, i think you are making a decision based on feeling rather than law and/or fact. (personal space)
both parties could have their actions ridiculed, i suppose it depends on one’s point of view and emotional state. both for us (me/you) and for them (kimi/cahier).
Will
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th July 2008, 16:40
‘Feeling’ has nothing to do with it Will. As I said before, Cahier is a professional photographer and you can see quite clearly from the video he is wearing a tabard and is allowed to be doing what he’s doing. If Raikkonen would rather have a job driving cars where he doesn’t have to worry about photographers than he should be in a taxi and not a Ferrari F1 car.
will
15th July 2008, 9:18
o, and to answer your question, i wasnt on the grid, only the pits. my reason for being there i would rather not discuss here.
are you interested in a pass to join us on the wall? nothing special, but you get to meet the drivers and see the cars closeup. this year i spoke to heidfeld, massa, webber and few other whose name i wouldnt like to try and spell.
let me know, and i see what i can do! :)
will
the limit
16th July 2008, 4:07
The bottom line is this.
Raikkonen is the current world champion, driving for Ferrari, the current constructers champion. Ferrari are the most successfull team in Formula One history, and Raikkonen is currently the most well paid driver on the Formula One grid.
The point being, ofcourse photographers are going to want to take pictures. End of story!! Why give them want they want?
I like Raikkonen as a driver, but this particular episode has made me look at him in a new light. When Alonso threw tantrums last year, he was criticised for being unprofessional, behaving in a manner unbecoming a world champion. How is Raikkonen’s behaviour any different?
Do that on the streets my good friends, you’ll either get locked up or have the **** kicked out of you.
Alastair
16th July 2008, 12:15
If the photographer was close enough for Kimi to push, he was too close.
For sure he was doing his job, but he was interfering with Kimi’s job by stepping on his carefully-prepared race gear with his wet feet.
If it was any other driver, I’m sure the same sort of thing would happened, if not worse, they get pretty worked up before a race and Kimi was VERY restrained after Lewis whacked him at Canada.
Polak
17th July 2008, 18:37
He surprised Kimi with a flash and camera lens in his face while he was gearing up to race in a GP. I think nerves played a big part of this. Kimi wasn’t on the red carpet. he was preparing to race.
I think thats provocation enough for what happened. Kimi could have done a 100 things differently but he did what he did. I didn’t see him stepping towards the photographer or throwing his equipment around.
laxmikanth
21st August 2012, 15:23
Kimi should have apologize.