A head of state spent the Hungarian GP in a photographer's bib, and it was the president
Not in the paddock club, but trackside with a long lens
World leaders turn up at grands prix all the time, usually in the paddock club with a lanyard and a schedule of handshakes. Petr Pavel did the opposite. The Czech president spent Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix down at track level in a photographer's bib, with FIA accreditation and a full camera kit, and most people only realised who it was afterwards.
What he actually did
Pavel attended the Hungaroring on Saturday with official FIA accreditation as a photographer, camera gear in hand, and worked the circuit alongside Czech Formula 1 photographer Jiri Krenek. He was not there in an official capacity or being hosted as a dignitary. He was there to take pictures, and once people online worked out that the man behind the lens was a sitting head of state, the images went viral.
This is not a one-off
The Hungarian GP is only the latest stop. Pavel has built a genuine body of motorsport photography across disciplines: the Le Mans 24 Hours in June 2026, MotoGP and World Superbike rounds at Brno, the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in 2025, and NASCAR in the United States. This is a serious hobby pursued over years, not a photo opportunity dressed up as one.
The work is taken seriously
And the pictures are good enough to stand on their own. Several of his Dakar Rally photographs were exhibited at Prague's National Technical Museum, and in 2025 he auctioned a photo album to raise around 30,000 euros for a Czech charity supporting children, single parents and elderly people. The photography is a real skill put to a real purpose, which is the part that lifts this above a novelty.
Who he is
Pavel is a former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, one of the most senior military roles in the alliance, and is now the president of the Czech Republic. That a man with that background chooses to spend a race weekend crouched at the barriers working for the shot, rather than watching from a suite, tells you the enthusiasm is real.
AutoNext Take
Most political appearances at grands prix are transactional: a handshake with a team principal, a wave from the grid, a photo with the trophy. This is the opposite, and it is genuinely lovely. A head of state who queues for accreditation, carries his own gear and works trackside because he actually loves motorsport is a rare and disarming thing, and the fact that he turns the results into money for charity only makes it better. Politicians are forever telling us they are ordinary people with ordinary passions. Petr Pavel is one of the few who has shown up, camera in hand, and proved it.
