35 replies to this topic

[fastlegs]

I was looking up some information today in Wikipedia about Niki Lauda and discovered that he has written 4 books over the years.

They are as follows; The Art and Science of Grand Prix Driving (1975); My Years With Ferrari (1978); The New Formula One: A Turbo Age (1984); and an autobiography, Meine Story (titled To Hell and Back in some markets) (1986).[10] Lauda credits Austrian journalist Herbert Volker with editing the books.

If you know of other books written by F1 drivers please mention them in this thread.

[Hypnotise]

Didn't Lewis write one?

[fastlegs]

Didn't Lewis write one?

Yes, I just found it on Amazon. It's called Lewis Hamilton: My Story.

[Darth Sidious]

Martin Brundle - Working the Wheel is pretty good.

[MortenF1]

DC - "It is what it is". Obviously co-written with some journalist.

[Hypnotise]

Yes, I just found it on Amazon. It's called Lewis Hamilton: My Story.

Is it any good?

[jcbc3]

I've read a few. Best was Super Pel's. Maybe not good for historical accuracy, but entertaining on a different level to the others.

[JSK]

Sir Jackie Stewart wrote Winning Is Not Enough (autobiography, here is excelent interview with Sir Jackie about that book) and Principles of Performance Driving (book about driving and more, it shows his attitude torwards racing).

[Rob]

The best one on racing principles and techniques is Paul Frére's Sports Car and Competition Driving.

The autobiographies I've most enjoyed reading are Perry McCarthy's Flat out, Flat broke and Tommy Byrne's Crashed and Byrned.

[LucaP]

Alex Zanardi's "My Sweetest Victory" (published in Italy as "Però, Zanardi da Castelmaggiore!") is a very ispiring and interesting book.

Really interesting tales about his beginnings and the Indycar years, between tragedies, tension and light-hearted funny remarks in bolognese dialect

[Andretti Fan]

Rummaging thru the Library when I was about 10 years old, I came across a copy of Graham Hill's autobiography, "Life at the Limit". It's the book that introduced me to Grand Prix racing and it hooked me right from the start.

[ensign14]

Check out the Nostalgia Forum, there's reams about books.

The best book though written by a Grand Prix driver is "All Arms And Elbows" by Innes Ireland. Simples.

[Jay101]

I read Nigel Mansells autobiography many years ago, can't remmember what it was called but I found it quite eye opening, even if only half of it was true.

[Mila]

"Keke: An Autobiography" (by Keke Rosberg, with Keith Botsford) graces my bookshelves. it covers the mustachioed one through the 1984 season.

[osborn]

Think Hamilton's book was ghost written and is supposed to be by all accounts pretty awful, which is hardly a surprise given he'd only done a season when it was written. I've heard many people say if you want a Hamilton book get Mark Hughes' effort.

Perry McCarthy's book his hilarious and heartbreaking and so is Tommy Byrne's if you're after the underdog sort of thing. Irvine did one too that I enjoyed that gets behind the psychology of going up against MS for years and his ridiculous lifestyle and various antics he got up to over the years.

DC's isn't too bad either as far as I recall and Jackie Stewart's is a good read, as long as you don't mind epic levels of name dropping page after page.

[Sausage]

Yeah it wouldn't hurt to know which books are ghost written and wich are not. Even co-written is stupid I think. I want the letters from the drivers minds, not all (or half of it) from some 3rd rate writer who smugs up the whole story.

[fastlegs]

Is it any good?

I don't know. I only saw it advertised on Amazon, however, it received 3 out of 5 stars based on21 reviews.

http://www.amazon.co...y/dp/0007270054

[CSquared]

"Life in the Fast Lane" by Alain Prost and Jean-Louis Moncet is a little bland, either written or translated a little poorly. Nothing like the candor, insight, and intelligence you get in Lauda's books. It also only goes up through 1989. It also, in case you didn't notice, has about the dumbest title a book about a racing driver could have.

Piero Taruffi's "The Technique of Motor Racing" is excellent.

[Vitesse2]

Yeah it wouldn't hurt to know which books are ghost written ...

Almost all of them. The only one of the "authors" mentioned above who ever made a living out of writing was Innes Ireland. Graham Hill's "Life at the Limit" was just about all his own work due to publishing deadlines, but at the very least the authors are edited (not least by the publisher's legal department!)

[stevewf1]

IF you can find it... Life at the Limit by Graham Hill. Probably the most entertaining book (of any kind) I've ever read.

[alfa1]

Competition Driving, by Alain Prost.
Its a guide on how to be a racing car driver. Deals with fitness, the ways to overtake, racing lines, footwork, car aerodynamics etc...
http://www.amazon.co...-...2890&sr=1-1

[kenny]

"Principles of race driving" by Senna (and a journalist) Great read!!

[billfenner1967]

Years and years ago I read Alan Jones' memoirs. Can't remember a thing about it -- except -- for a bit near the end where he says that he doesn't feel women are the equal of men because women are physically and mentally incapable of doing certain things that men do, such as driving racing cars. Swear to God. I was a teenager at the time and I found it hilarious. I mentioned it to my mum and she was shocked and has hated AJ ever since!

[ferruccio]

Alex Yoong just published a week or two ago, Alex Yoong: The Driver's Line in case anyone bothers

[CSquared]

Competition Driving, by Alain Prost.
Its a guide on how to be a racing car driver. Deals with fitness, the ways to overtake, racing lines, footwork, car aerodynamics etc...
http://www.amazon.co...-...2890&sr=1-1

If I remember correctly, that is basically a book by Pierre-Francois Rousselot with a couple paragraph-length blurbs by Prost at the end of each chapter.

[senna da silva]

Faster by Jackie Stewart has always been one of my favourites.

[vivafroilan!]

A big +1 for Hill's Life at the Limit and Ireland's All Arms and Elbows. Also, though not focused on Formula 1, Duncan Hamilton's Touch Wood is so relentlessly funny it almost hurts to read it.

[Galka]

The autobiographies I've most enjoyed reading are Perry McCarthy's Flat out, Flat broke and Tommy Byrne's Crashed and Byrned.

McCarthy's book was absolutely hilarious (in a positive way).

[Terry Walker]

One of the best was "The Design and Behaviour of the Racing Car" by Pomeroy and Stirling Moss.

Pomeroy wrote his usual highly technical and mathematical design analysis of the various cars - and the book had fantastic cutaway drawings by the way - and then Moss, who had driven all of them when they were new, wrote how they worked on the racing circuit in the real world.

Obsolete now of course, and hard to find, but very well done. Shows the gulf between what the theoriticians with the pencils and rulers who design the cars, and the blokes behind the wheel.

Mike Hawthorn "wrote" two autobiographic books - "Challenge me the Race" and "Champion Year", both ghosted by prominent motor racing journalists of the time who knew what they were talking about. Two novels appeared "by Mike Hawthorn", aimed at teen petrolheads of which I have one I found in a second hand bookshop for $5 Aus. "Carlotti at the Wheel". He did not, of course, write them, and I don't now who actually did.

[Rob]

McCarthy's book was absolutely hilarious (in a positive way).

You need to read Tommy Byrne's if you haven't already. Also hilarious.

[RoutariEnjinu]

My brothers girlfriend bought him the Lewis Hamilton book when it came out (even though he has zero interest in F1). He never read it, so he recently gave it to me, and I got bored of it. Especially when it started waffling about a god.

I wouldn't recommend it.

[BullHead]

Martin Brundle - Working the Wheel is pretty good.

A surperb and entertaining read.

Sir Jackie Stewart wrote Winning Is Not Enough (autobiography, here is excelent interview with Sir Jackie about that book) and Principles of Performance Driving (book about driving and more, it shows his attitude torwards racing).

Some copies have a dvd insert which is great to watch.

Rummaging thru the Library when I was about 10 years old, I came across a copy of Graham Hill's autobiography, "Life at the Limit". It's the book that introduced me to Grand Prix racing and it hooked me right from the start.

Didn't Prof Sid Watkins write a book with that title, the predecessor to "Beyond the limit"?

"Life in the Fast Lane" by Alain Prost and Jean-Louis Moncet is a little bland, either written or translated a little poorly. Nothing like the candor, insight, and intelligence you get in Lauda's books. It also only goes up through 1989. It also, in case you didn't notice, has about the dumbest title a book about a racing driver could have.

I seem to remember an Eddie Irvine autobiography with that title too.

[Vitesse2]

Didn't Prof Sid Watkins write a book with that title, the predecessor to "Beyond the limit"?




I seem to remember an Eddie Irvine autobiography with that title too.

Correct on both counts. Publiishers can be somewhat unimaginative when it comes to motor racing book titles. For example, never confuse William Court's superb "Power and Glory" with "The Power and the Glory" by Ivan Rendall. An idea of their relative worth is that the latter can currently be purchased from 66p on ABEbooks while the former will cost you at least £35!

[BullHead]

There was an old tv documentary series called Power and Glory, or was it the other one? Was it related to the book? (whichever it is)

[Vitesse2]

Yes, the Rendall book is the TV tie-in.

[snash]

Jackie Stewart's is a good read, as long as you don't mind epic levels of name dropping page after page.

Totally agree! Overall I thought the book was very good, but the amount of name-dropping was embarrassing.