President of Czechia worked as a photographer at Formula 1 GP for surprising reason

The president of the Czech Republic (or Czechia), Petr Pavel, spent last weekend at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest, Hungary, where the last round of Formula 1 took place. The president, however, was not in the VIP area reserved for heads of state, but leaning against the railing of the track, wearing shorts, a T-shirt and an FIA photographer’s credential on his chest.

Pavel followed the Hungarian F1 GP from the designated photography spots, the same space where photographers from international agencies work. The leader took images on Saturday, during practice, and returned on Sunday (26), when Lando Norris won the race ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.

The scene of the president crouching with a telephoto lens went around the world in a few hours, published by the official F1 profiles, the French newspaper L’Équipe and ESPN. Before the race, in the pit lane, he spoke with Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who publicized the meeting on social networks. Presidential security was around the entire time, including in the pits.

Why does a president have a photographer’s credential?

President Petr Pavel has for years maintained the project Objektivem Petra Pavla (“Through the lens of Petr Pavel”), which transforms his motorsport photos into large-format signed reproductions and puts them up for auction. In 13 auctions, the initiative has already raised 668,355 Czech crowns (about R$160,000) for the charity fund of the first lady, Eva Pavlová, according to the local press.

On the edge of the track he was not alone: an FIA delegate asked Czech photographer Jiří Křenek, accredited by Mercedes and the Porsche Supercup, to accompany the president through the circuit’s work points. Křenek told the newspaper Deník that there was no time for guidance before practice, and that it was not necessary either: in motorsport photography, Pavel is not a novice.

A retired general and former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the president of Czechia is a motorcyclist and uses most of his time off at racetracks. In January 2025, he spent five days camping in a tent at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, and the photos of the trip were exhibited at the National Technical Museum in Prague. In June of this year he photographed the 24 Hours of Le Mans, arrived on a motorcycle at the MotoGP GP in Brno, drove a NASCAR car and appeared in May at the Prague speedway GP.

The shorts that divided the country

The Czech leader’s stripping, wearing shorts, however, generated mixed opinions among the country’s citizens. Media analyst Vadim Petrov, for example, said that the episode exposes the vulgarization of the position. On the other hand, Ladislav Špaček, an etiquette expert and former spokesman for Havel, said that Pavel has a sporty profile and the right to shorts in that environment. Fashion designer Štěpánka Pivcová added that it would be strange to appear at the Hungaroring in a suit and tie in the heat of the European summer.

Among photographers, the controversy was different. Reddit users noticed that the president alternates Canon and Nikon bodies in the same job, a much greater sacrilege, in the middle, than shorts on race day.