Kimi Raikkonen vs Paul-Henri Cahier
8th July 2008, 21:03 by Keith Collantine 54 Comments »
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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 8th July 2008, 22:20
In the video that Wenny linked to, even Luca Colajanni was watching Wimbledon !!
Wesley said on 8th July 2008, 22:33
The way I see it,Cahier was too close AND Kimi over reacted.It’s a wash.
Green Flag said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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 said on 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.