F1 Books You've Read/Reading...
Discussion
If anyone hasn't read the series of books McLaren are doing, written by Maurice Hamilton, I can't recommend them enough. Brilliantly written as you'd expect, tons of interesting stories and amazing photography. I believe there are three out at the moment, one each on the careers of Hunt, Senna and Prost. I've read all three and couldn't put them down. You might expect them to focus 90% of the book on their McLaren careers but that's not the case. Prost's book for example has a lot of information about his Renault days and how they really made him the scapegoat for the team losing the title to Piquet and Brabham in '83.
Speaking of Hunt, Gerald Donaldson's James Hunt biography might be the most interesting F1 book I've ever read. I had no idea how complicated a person Hunt was.
I finished Damon Hill's book recently and thought it was excellent too. The racing stuff was very good but the real meat was the in-depth insights into how Graham's death affected him, both at the time and for decades after. It was great that Damon could write so candidly about his insecurities and depression, especially given the recent surge in mental health awareness.
Mark Webber's book was good, not great. It was written well and the racing stories were really interesting, but it suffered from a bit of "written with a chip on his shoulder"-itis. I haven't read DC's; I probably won't bother if it's largely the same, a chance for him to air his grievances.
Both Marc Priestley and Adrian Newey's books are on the xmas list, so really looking forward to getting stuck into them. I've only heard good things about both of them.
Speaking of Hunt, Gerald Donaldson's James Hunt biography might be the most interesting F1 book I've ever read. I had no idea how complicated a person Hunt was.
I finished Damon Hill's book recently and thought it was excellent too. The racing stuff was very good but the real meat was the in-depth insights into how Graham's death affected him, both at the time and for decades after. It was great that Damon could write so candidly about his insecurities and depression, especially given the recent surge in mental health awareness.
Mark Webber's book was good, not great. It was written well and the racing stories were really interesting, but it suffered from a bit of "written with a chip on his shoulder"-itis. I haven't read DC's; I probably won't bother if it's largely the same, a chance for him to air his grievances.
Both Marc Priestley and Adrian Newey's books are on the xmas list, so really looking forward to getting stuck into them. I've only heard good things about both of them.
thatguy11 said:
If anyone hasn't read the series of books McLaren are doing, written by Maurice Hamilton, I can't recommend them enough. Brilliantly written as you'd expect, tons of interesting stories and amazing photography. I believe there are three out at the moment, one each on the careers of Hunt, Senna and Prost. I've read all three and couldn't put them down. You might expect them to focus 90% of the book on their McLaren careers but that's not the case. Prost's book for example has a lot of information about his Renault days and how they really made him the scapegoat for the team losing the title to Piquet and Brabham in '83.
Hated Maurice's writing in his book on 2007, to the point that I haven't bothered to go past the first couple of chapters and I bought it a couple of years ago. Bit less of the 'setting the scene' and flash forwards please, just tell me the frikkin' story!I may check out the McLaren books though, hope it's not as annoying!
thatguy11 said:
Both Marc Priestley and Adrian Newey's books are on the xmas list, so really looking forward to getting stuck into them. I've only heard good things about both of them.
I finished Marc's book now. A fun read, and very forthright in his views on the McLaren drivers he's worked with. A balanced take on 2007 and what it meant to lose that Championship. The Kimi anecdotes were hilarious.Newey's book is on the xmas list.
If you're super quick and head over to Jenson's Instagram page tickets just been made available for his Life to the Limit book signing on 29th November.
It's an extra event on the back of his recent tour and is being held in Islington at £28.00 entry which includes a copy of the autobiography.
It's an extra event on the back of his recent tour and is being held in Islington at £28.00 entry which includes a copy of the autobiography.
Cold said:
If you're super quick and head over to Jenson's Instagram page tickets just been made available for his Life to the Limit book signing on 29th November.
It's an extra event on the back of his recent tour and is being held in Islington at £28.00 entry which includes a copy of the autobiography.
Just to quickly quote myself, I went along to this last night at the glamorous setting of the converted theatre/bingo hall that is Gracepoint - complete with James Allen. It's an extra event on the back of his recent tour and is being held in Islington at £28.00 entry which includes a copy of the autobiography.
It was an interesting couple of hours hearing some of his stories being told with candour and humour and the subsequent Q+A threw up a couple of notable points not least the admission that Claire Williams has been on the phone more than once since he retired.
Anyway, looking forward to being given this at Christmas.
I was there too. It was great. You paid £28, got a pre-signed copy then James Allen did an interview with Jenson followed by Q&A with the audience.
100 people got a gold sticker in their book, which allowed you to meet Jenson and get a picture.
I was lucky enough to get one of the gold stickers. I have to say that if he ever does another one of these I’d highly recommend it. He was a great laugh, and really gave the impression that he was glad to meet all his fans. A really classy guy.
He mentioned Claire Williams being on the phone a few times, but also, and very interestingly I thought, one of the audience members asked him if he regretted never driving for Ferrari. He said that he’d actually agreed to sign for them, but then Domenicali was removed and it didn't happen. I don’t ever remember that being a rumour at the time. Had anyone else ever heard anything about it?
100 people got a gold sticker in their book, which allowed you to meet Jenson and get a picture.
I was lucky enough to get one of the gold stickers. I have to say that if he ever does another one of these I’d highly recommend it. He was a great laugh, and really gave the impression that he was glad to meet all his fans. A really classy guy.
He mentioned Claire Williams being on the phone a few times, but also, and very interestingly I thought, one of the audience members asked him if he regretted never driving for Ferrari. He said that he’d actually agreed to sign for them, but then Domenicali was removed and it didn't happen. I don’t ever remember that being a rumour at the time. Had anyone else ever heard anything about it?
Edited by tomic on Sunday 3rd December 01:38
Just finished Damon's Watching The Wheels and I was a little disappointed to be honest. For such an interesting character it read like it was heavily edited and almost like it was serialised in a tabloid.
The sort of book to appeal to a brit reading his one book of the year on a beach in Spain. A page turner and easy to read but not the insight I'd imagined.
The sort of book to appeal to a brit reading his one book of the year on a beach in Spain. A page turner and easy to read but not the insight I'd imagined.
Really ? Cripes. I thought it was exrtaordinarily good ,and very well written - and by the man himself. Frank , and I thought hugely insightful too, especially into his relationship with Graham. Heavily edited? I am not sure what you mean - in what sense , stuff left out you knew was originally in?
coppice said:
Really ? Cripes. I thought it was exrtaordinarily good ,and very well written - and by the man himself. Frank , and I thought hugely insightful too, especially into his relationship with Graham. Heavily edited? I am not sure what you mean - in what sense , stuff left out you knew was originally in?
Oh I could of course be wrong, I was just a little disappointed after the reviews on here. I don't mean it was edited to take out any juicy bits I just felt a lot seamed rushed through-how many pages dealt with his championship year-a dozen? His son's Downs was covered in 2 pages I think, the fall out with Williams wasn't really covered at all and amounted to "Frank did it to get engines and I don't blame him".Now he's an incredibly bright and interesting character and I was really looking forward to reading all about him as his story must be unique in the modern era. Father a brilliant world champion, tragically killed, starting one of the toughest sports to succeed in incredibly late and with no prior experience and against all odds becoming a world champion-then being dropped just as he made it! Not to mention Imola and the whole '93 season which could probably fill a book in itself.
I know he laid his story bare as an awkward teenager and young man but considering his therapy to sort it all out I thought he never explained quite how he got over it.
Perhaps he didn't want to be defined by any of those events, I don't know? I do however feel that the second half of the book read to me like it just wanted to get to the end
mcholeboy_59 said:
Just finished reading Jensons book, great read. and his awesome humour shines through many times aswell.
Always wondered what his take on his wilderness years were from 2001 -2004 and now i know. Not much said on 2007 and 2008 though, to be expected!
Yup, I found it a great read, shocking the real story of his father passing too. Very sad. You can also understand why he wanted to retire a little better too. Great ReadAlways wondered what his take on his wilderness years were from 2001 -2004 and now i know. Not much said on 2007 and 2008 though, to be expected!
I have Adrian Newey's book on the bedside table to start tonight
samoht said:
I'd very much recommend 'Team Lotus - My View from the Pit Wall' by Peter Warr (finished off by Simon Taylor after his death).
He gives a lot of insight into the cars and the drivers, from Jochen Rindt, through a hilarious demolition of Nigel Mansell, to Ayrton Senna.
Peter warr and frank dernie didn't like mansell one bit. He gives a lot of insight into the cars and the drivers, from Jochen Rindt, through a hilarious demolition of Nigel Mansell, to Ayrton Senna.
markcoznottz said:
Peter warr and frank dernie didn't like mansell one bit.
To be fair, if I'd just signed Senna for peanuts at the start of his career and then got told by my main sponsor 'sorry you can't have him, we need you to run Nigel Mansell', I'd have a chip on my shoulder about it too ;-)samoht said:
I'd very much recommend 'Team Lotus - My View from the Pit Wall' by Peter Warr (finished off by Simon Taylor after his death).
He gives a lot of insight into the cars and the drivers, from Jochen Rindt, through a hilarious demolition of Nigel Mansell, to Ayrton Senna.
The decline of Team Lotus in the post Senna era has always fascinated me. Does the book go into any detail about how Warr led the team through the disastrous 88 and 89 seasons and how he was forced to abdicate with the team at bankruptcy? I mean they screwed up using the Honda turbo engine, were forced to run a second-rate Nakajima, junked active suspension just as Williams proved it was race winning technology (after 4+ years of their own internal development), and how they ended up with such a poor chassis considering they could co-opted work to Lotus Engineering - is beyond me.He gives a lot of insight into the cars and the drivers, from Jochen Rindt, through a hilarious demolition of Nigel Mansell, to Ayrton Senna.
I am close to finishing 'Total competition' by Parr & Brawn, it has been a really good read, you really get an insight behind RB's philosophies & methodologies, I think he is definitely the right man for Liberty if they back his planning cycle. What I found interesting was the back story to the Honda / Brawn / Mercedes transition, too many players & no wonder it ground him down.
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