Book Review: Formula 1 The Pursuit of Speed by Paul-Henri & Bernard Cahier

Among F1 photographers there are a few veteran names that are synonymous with the sport over many decades- Rainer Schlegelmilch, Keith Sutton, Joe Honda, Nigel Snowdon and Bernard Cahier. A great photo album that showcases the photos of Bernhard Cahier & his son Paul-Henri is “Formula 1: The Pursuit of Speed”.

At 270 pages, the layout of this hardcover follows the chapter structure of many other F1 history photo albums from the first F1 GP in 1955 to 2016. Aside from the foreword (by Sir Jackie Stewart) and the introduction, the book is divided into 3 main chapters:

Rivalries – photos of famous driver rivalries from the bitter Senna-Prost, Schumacher-Hill kind to the gentlemanly Fangio-Moss kind. Also included are famous intra-team battles like Villeneuve-Prost through to the modern era Vettel-Webber and Hamilton-Rosberg.

Teams – Only photos of the famous marques are included rather than a collection covering every single team to have raced.

Circuits – Again, not all circuits are featured – just race photos from the famous European circuits like Monaco, Imola & Monza, Spain, Silverstone & Brands Hatch and Japan, Canada, Singapore, Australia.

The focus of the book is obviously on the Cahier archive photography – although you can assume the older B&W photos are from Cahier senior – its not so apparent with the colour photos. The signature trait of most of Bernard Cahier’s famous photos is the emphasis on close up portrait images that capture a driver’s expression, personality or mood either in or out of the car.

There is narrative included from Maurice Hamilton to help provide some of the historical context for each chapter and photo captions.

Although I still prefer Schlegelmilch F1 photo books generally, this is still a decent photo almanac of Formula 1 over the years. For purists – Bernard’s “F-Stops, Pit Stops, Laughter & Tears” is the seminal book of his  F1 photography work.

Wow Factor/Money shot: Great Bernard Cahier B&W shots of Enzo, Mauro Forghieri, Tyrrell P34

Suitable for: General F1 fans