F1 is a dangerous sport for those taking part, and that is a well-established fact. However, the risk associated with those near the action is often discounted. F1 photographers have felt the danger over the years, and Michael Schmidt, a revered journalist in the community, recently spoke about the same.
Little is known about Schmidt’s photography career. That’s because the German gave up on it a long time ago due to three life-threatening accidents from which he narrowly escaped. “I stopped, actually, because in 82 I was run over, three times,” Schmidt said on the On the Tracks podcast.
Out of the three occasions, his escape at the Nurburgring 1,000-kilometer race was truly miraculous.
“I saw with just one eye that this car was coming so fast towards me, and I managed to get out,” he added. “And six people were hit, three of them seriously injured, so six photographers. It was a real mess“.
Schmidt revealed that the car was right in front of him when he got out of the way. It was a close shave, but interestingly, this wasn’t the incident that made him quit. “That was too much,” Schmidt continued, before stating that it was the third time a car came close to spelling disaster for him that he decided to quit photography for good. Since then, he has traded his camera for a pen and a writing pad.
F1 photographers operate in much safer conditions today
Back in the day, F1 and other motorsports were dangerous, even for photographers, who risked their safety to capture the best shots of the racing action.
With few barriers separating them from the track, photographers had to get as close as possible to the action to get the best shots. Although things have significantly improved today, it was only last year that an F1 photographer had a narrow escape while filming the first-lap action of the Monaco GP.
Look how everyone near the fence gets hit by debris from the crash between Checo and Magnussen. That was super dangerous and I’m just glad no one got hurt.
IG: alexandraborchio#MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/WcrurBmdvI
— Marie (@ma_fe79) May 26, 2024
A multi-car collision involving Sergio Perez and the two Haas drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, resulted in debris flying all around, some even going over the barriers that separated the photographers from the action on the track. One piece of debris hit a photographer, who was immediately rushed to the hospital.
Fortunately, the photographer struck by the debris did not suffer any injuries, with the FIA confirming that he had not sustained any “open wounds.” After precautionary checks at the hospital, the photographer returned to the track to cover the rest of the action.
