86 replies to this topic

[One]

There is a (more) book on bernie? i read one...

[Villes Gilleneuve]

Steve Matchett's book, The Chariot Makers: Assembling The Perfect Formula 1 Car, is an absolute must-read for anybody who really wants to get into the nitty-gritty of car design and concepts. It explains a lot in very simple to understand terminology.

Really? I find, "I was a Benneton mechanic, you know", Matchett to be quite condescending.

Sid Watkins book on being the F1 doctor is a good read. His wife wrote the biography of Ecclestone.

"Can-am: the Speed Odyssey" is an AMAZING DVD.

[ensign14]

There is a (more) book on bernie? i read one...

Three books:

-Bernie's Game by Terry Lovell, recently updated, concentrates on the financial side;
-Bernie by Susan Watkins, concentrates more on the personal/sporting side;
-No Angel by Tom Bower, which has not yet been published, although it's estimated to come out next week - Bower is an investigative financial journalist, so guess what that will cover...

[Ragingjamaican]

Prost vs Senna by Maurice Hamilton, I haven't read it but my girlfriend bought me it the other day, had lots of good reviews on amazon she said.

Plus I have seen that most books recommended on here are by Maurice Hamilton

[Pink Snail]

Forgive my continuing allegiance to all Donington Park ;) , but a great read is Tom Wheatcroft`s Thunder in The Park. An added bonus is if you buy a copy from the shop in the Donington Collection it may be signed by Tom himself . He used to go in virtually every day and sign a few copies for Garry to sell. The signed copies are of course getting down in stock so will be a welcome addition to any Motorsport reading fans bookcase.
Another one I have kept in my collection is Niki Lauda`s To Hell and Back, a good read if you can put yourself into the time zone of when it was written. Ayrton Senna by the late Christopher Hilton and Karin Sturm`s Goodbye Champion Farewell Friend were another two to stay on the shelf after reading, never let them go!!
I have also read various Mansell, Hill, Moss books and have a couple of Autosport `guides` to Lotus and Williams from the early `80s that are in the collection my better half calls `clutter` (they don`t know do they!!??)

[minardifans]

"Chequered Flag : 100 Years of Motor Racing" by Ivan Rendall

This for me is one of the best read I've ever had motor racing wise. The fact that it delves back so far to the dawn of motor sport right back to its birth and contains so many historic photos. Fantastic.

I bought my copy for £1 from a second hand book shop in Bangor North Wales because the cover had been bound on back to front and upside down.;)

[Pink Snail]

"Chequered Flag : 100 Years of Motor Racing" by Ivan Rendall

This for me is one of the best read I've ever had motor racing wise. The fact that it delves back so far to the dawn of motor sport right back to its birth and contains so many historic photos. Fantastic.

I bought my copy for £1 from a second hand book shop in Bangor North Wales because the cover had been bound on back to front and upside down.;)

"Don`t judge a book by it`s cover" eh minardifans!!! Nice One - good bargain that may be unique!!!

[midgrid]

Prost vs Senna by Maurice Hamilton, I haven't read it but my girlfriend bought me it the other day, had lots of good reviews on amazon she said.

Plus I have seen that most books recommended on here are by Maurice Hamilton

Senna Versus Prost is actually by Malcolm Folley, unless there's another book I don't know about.

[HopkinsonF1]

I actually thought Overdrive was a fairly poor book. The first third was interesting stuff, but after that it often got sidetracked, went around in circles repeating itself, and by the end virtually became a promotional pamphlet for some generic spiritual mumbo-jumbo. A few chapters are certainly worth a read but, taken as a whole, it wasn't great.

[HopkinsonF1]

Wait, has nobody said Chasing the Title by Nigel Roebuck? Far and away the best Formula 1 book I've read.

[BullHead]

The Haynes Grand Prix Data book is good.... Some magnificent and curious stats in the appendices...

[Dave777]

Best book IMO is the James Hunt book by Gerald Donaldson. I cannot beleive it was not mentioned earlier. The last F1 book I read was the Tommy Byrne book, which was very good as well. I really think Hunt's book captured what a wildman he really was.

[Tombstone]

The factual tome McLaren - The Cars is brilliant. I'm highly biased of course.

[punknhedd]

Neither are F1, but I very much enjoyed:

Racing in the Rain by John Horsman
Go Like Hell by AJ Baime

Both cover what I think were some of the best/most interesting stories of the golden years at Le Mans.

[KR571]

hey guys uhh... is formula 1 technology by peter wright a good book? ??? i have an opportunity to grab it but wanted to ask somebody about it.
please help. and while giving the advice please consider the fact that i am just starting out (a rookie in other words) on these kinds of books. so please help me. thanks

[gm914]

Neither are F1, but I very much enjoyed:

Racing in the Rain by John Horsman
Go Like Hell by AJ Baime

Both cover what I think were some of the best/most interesting stories of the golden years at Le Mans.

I really enjoyed Go Like Hell also. Highly recommend it.

[ivanalesi]

Just read there's a new book about Briatore in Italian and it gives a very nasty insight into his life and as Joe Saward said, he was so fond of it, he tried to buy all the copies!)) It would be very interesting if someone can give us some more info about it:)
On another note, has anyone read Kerry Spackman's book The Winner's Bible? I'm awaiting it to be delivered, but I've watched the guy on a couple of documentaries and I was very impressed. Can't wait for Tommy Byrne, everybody says it's a mighty story!

hey guys uhh... is formula 1 technology by peter wright a good book? ??? i have an opportunity to grab it but wanted to ask somebody about it.
please help. and while giving the advice please consider the fact that i am just starting out (a rookie in other words) on these kinds of books. so please help me. thanks

Take it! Awesome book, it's a very good basis to continue reading motorsport technical books. Read it some 10 years ago, still one of my favorite books!

[RSNS]

For those interested in the subject of Clyde Brolin's 2010 book Overdrive, here's a particularly vivid account of what it feels like for a racing driver to be 'in the zone'. Those who fancy a challenge might wish to identify the driver. Incorrect guesses on my own blog have so far included Moss, Senna, and Stewart.

"When I'm in that groove, I can go on forever. I wish I knew how I got into that state. I don't. I simply find myself in it...

"Then I drive out of that window in my helmet. I look through that window and what I see out of it is the sole and only thing that exists in the whole wide world; everything is happening out there in front of me. My legs and arms and every other part of me are just parts of a whole and doing what they're supposed to be doing automatically, so that I don't have to think consciously about gearing or braking or accelerating; that's all going on without any orders from me. I concentrate, intensely, on everything that's in front of me: be it a car or a corner, there's an invisible line extending from that window in my head to whatever's next. My body is in unison. It doesn't really exist; it's compacted, the whole of me is bunched up tight inside that little area of plexiglass. I'm entirely in my helmet and I think of myself as being the helmet, looking out. Everything, body or car, obeys that module.

"The sensation is not physical...I'm seeing more than I ever have before. My vision is enlarged and the sensation is purely mental."

I won't try to guess — I think any racing driver feels like that some time during his career. But who wrote that?

Edited by RSNS, 19 February 2011 - 19:51.

[Ragingjamaican]

Senna Versus Prost is actually by Malcolm Folley, unless there's another book I don't know about.;)

Yeah you are right

Sorry about that

[BullHead]

hey guys uhh... is formula 1 technology by peter wright a good book? ??? i have an opportunity to grab it but wanted to ask somebody about it.
please help. and while giving the advice please consider the fact that i am just starting out (a rookie in other words) on these kinds of books. so please help me. thanks

Take it! Awesome book, it's a very good basis to continue reading motorsport technical books. Read it some 10 years ago, still one of my favorite books!

It does indeed look good. I kinda flicked through it in a shop once. A bit pricey though.

[KR571]

A sincere thanks to bullhead and ivanalesi for their advice and help. i did grab the book and love it already.
thanks once again.

[The Oracle]

Going back through my bookshelves I found a book I recieved one Christmas by Ian Stafford titled "Who do you think you are... Michael Schumacher?"

Stafford - basically documents his time spent working up to a "race" against the legendary MS via Karts, Rally, Track Days, ARD tests, F1 tests at Santa Pod and finally the Stade de France and the ROC and a chance to race MS for real?

Name check on my previous post Koen Vergeer wrote F1 Fanatic.

[Louis Mr. F1]

i have read 3 - 4 F1 books since last August: Prost vs Senna, Maurice Hamilton's book on Frank Williams, Alex Zanardi's biography, Jo Rameriz's book - they are all very good read

after reading this thread, i just bought a few books on Friday night - Martin Brundle / James Hunt (by Donaldson) / Giogior Piola's Technical Analysis / Ecclestone (Bower) / 2010 F1 Review

Has anyone bought Barrichello's biography? how is it? i am hoping he'll release a book after he finally retires from F1 to talk about his whole F1 career.

[Louis Mr. F1]

Just received a book called "Freezing Speed", it's published in 1990 and produced by F1 photographer John Blakemore- it's a book describing the techniques of how to take picture of a racing car. I'm loving it alot, not only that it contains lots lots of unseen F1 pictures from the 1980s era.

the pictures and layout of the book are very nice.

Does anyone know where I can find more of John Blakemore's F1 photos online? i tried to search for it but couldn't find anything .....

[karne]

I'm adding another vote for "The Life of Senna" by Tom Rubython - can't stop re-reading it.

Other good ones I've read:

"Skaifey" by Mark Skaife

"Inside the Mind of a Grand Prix Driver" (I can't remember who wrote this but it was really interesting)

"Life at the Limit" and "Beyond the Limit" by Sid Watkins

"The Jack Brabham Story" by Sir Jack Brabham - this is an AMAZING book, big, hardcover, broken down into year by year, with so many wonderful photos and insights.

Rossi's book was pretty good too but I can never remember what it's called.

Also:

"Up Front" by Mark Webber

[Peat]

Just finished the Bernie book 'No Angel'. Was good, but got a little bogged down in TV deals and figures halfway through. Made it tough going.

If you liked the Sid Watkins books, you'll also like 'Rapid Response' by Dr Steve Olvey (Indy/Champ Car).

[racerbaz]

Just finished the Bernie book 'No Angel'. Was good, but got a little bogged down in TV deals and figures halfway through. Made it tough going.

If you liked the Sid Watkins books, you'll also like 'Rapid Response' by Dr Steve Olvey (Indy/Champ Car).

tHIS IS MY TOTALLY OPINIATED LIST OF THE Best Motorsport Books.
By far and away he best and most thorough story of the life of Ayrton Senna is Tom Rubython's 'The Life of Ayrton Senna'. A more intimate story by Ayrton's girlfriend is 'Adrienne - My Life with Ayrton' by Adrienne Galisteau.
'The Death of Ayrton Senna' by Richard Williams is a smaller book but no less superb and tells the story of the end and what followed.
The best and most readable record of 1930's racing is the brilliant 'Silver Arrows' by Chris Nixon.
'Rosemeyer' also written by Chris Nixon is another thoroughly researched standard work on the personable and mercurial German 1930's Auto Union ace.'Mercedes Benz - Grand Prix Racing 1934 - 1955' by George Monkhouse tells the story of the Silver Arrows in beautiful black & white photographs with a lot more insightful stories besides.'Speed was my Life' was written by the legendary Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer and is full of racey stories of pre-war racing.
The two best books on our 'national treasure' Sir Stirling Moss that I have read, are 'All but my Life' by written back in the 60's by Ken Purdy with Stirling's full cooperation and 'Stirling Moss - My Cars, My Career' Stirling Moss with Doug Nye. The first is a bit psychological & philosophical giving an insight into how our hero approached,enjoyed and survived motor racing. The second more about how he viewed the tools of his trade and their relative merits and shortcomings.
Both 'Challenge me the Race' & 'Champion Year' by Mike Hawthorn are cracking reads recounting a more carefree age when the partying was as important as the racing and Mike was brilliant at both.'Mon Ami Mate' again by Chris Nixon, is a dual history of the story of great pals Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. As with all of Chis Nixon's books, very thorough and illuminating. A more recently published biography of Mike Hawthorn is 'Mike Hawthorn - The Golden Boy' by Tony Bailey & Paul Skiliter. This is another really thorough story of Mike Hawthorn and with the other three books, will tell you all you would ever need to know about Britain's first World Champion.
If you are looking for insights into the people in motor racing then 'The Legendary Years', 'Behind the Scenes' & 'Strictly off the Record' by ex BRM man Louis Stanley will certainly cover the 60's & 70's, and the big man's contribution to safety at this time is much underrated. Two other books on the people involved in various parts of the business are 'Grand Prix People' by Gerald Donaldson and 'Inside Formula One' by the greatest present-day motor racing writer Nigel Roebuck.
If you are into McLaren then 'Teamwork' by Gerald Donaldson tells you all about the people who work behind the scenes in Woking, and 'To Finish First' by ex Team Manager Phil Kerr will give you the full entertaining history of the team.
'A Different Kind of Life' by Sir Frank Williams's wife Virginia is one of the very motor racing best biographies I have ever read. It tells the story of how Virginia met and fell in love with Sir Frank and how they built a winning team. Then it goes on to tell the story of his terrible accident and how they coped with that. A totally brilliant book.
'Winning is Not Enough' by Jackie Stewart is his official biography and tells the story of an incredibly busy and succesful life or rather several busy and successful lives ! He doesn't only stick to motor racing either and it is a big book that you won't be able to put down.
'Life At The Limit' by Graham Hill is a classic story of 60's & 70's motor racing at the highest level, a very entertaining man who seemed to thoroughly enjoy what was to be a tragically short life. 'Jim Clark at the Wheel' by Jim Clark is written in a more modest and self-effacing way which was typical of the man out of the car - but what a tiger of a driver in the car ! .
'To Hell and Back' is the story of Niki Lauda's amazing recovery from his traumatic accident - I don't think it could happen today but then how many more men do we have like Niki ?
'Colin Chapman - The Man and his Cars' by written by 'Jabby' Crombac tell the full story of another genius who was a great and inspiring leader and one of F1's greatest ever design innovators.
'Eddie Jordan - An Independant Man - The Autobiography' by Eddie Jordan is like the man vastly entertaining but written with the common touch of a man who is never afraid to say what he means, yet you cannot dislike him. Another ripping biography.
'Shunt' by Tom Rubython is the full and complete story of James Hunt. As it says on the cover it's a true story which reads like a novel. James was a man who could easily drive anyone right up the wall without any trouble at all. But he was also a caring man of great personal charm and charisma - just ask all those hundreds of ladies who fell so willingly under his spell ! Another really great book by Tom.
'The Grand Prix Saboteurs' by Jo Saward is the story of Robert Benoist's racing career between the wars and then his bravery as a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied France leading to his eventual murderous end. What a great and courageous man and what a story !
The best fictional work on motorsport I have read, and I certainly havn't managed to endure much fiction, was 'The Last Open Road' by Burt Levy. He is a great writer and really gets under the skin of the love of cars and racing in a way that any enthusiast can relate to.
If you are looking for the best histories then 'The Complete History of Grand Prix Motor Racing' by Adriano Cimarosti contains so much with maps, signatures, posters etc etc. 'Power and Glory - Volumes 1 & 2' are the standard well-written literary works on the history of motor racing and 'Grand Prix Reqium' also by William Court tells the stories of the drivers who paid with their lives for their love of motor racing.
One of the greatest achievements of recent times has been the private publication of the set of volumes called 'A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturete Racing' by Paul Sheldon. You won't find any photographs in these many volumes but the industrious doctor Sheldon has done no less than compiled a complete historical record of all the top line single-seater racing entry lists and results. It also has a short synopsis of all the races since the sport's inception. This is a total classic work on the sport and the volumes are a complete treasure-trove of information on the sport.
'Time and Two Seats' by Janos Wimfen is a boxed pair of substantial volumes on the record of sports-car & prototype racing. Lots of maps, photos and fascinating statistics. Another standard work.
'Silverstone - 50 Golden Years' published by the BRDC is the very well-illustrated story of our favourite airfield and a more modest version published in paperback was 40 Silverstone Years edited by Ray Hutton.
'The Racing 1500's' by David Venables tells the story of 1930's voiturette racing with maps of less well-known circuits and stories of a bye-gone age.
'A Record of Motor Racing 1894 - 1908' by Gerald Rose is history for the very early days when endurance was a more important factor than speed. Still the very best on this period and the standard work.
The remaining books in my personal favourites list are ones perhaps, that are less easy to group. 'The Science of Safety' by David Tremaine is the story of how motor racing was gradually forced to come to terms with safety. Each horrific accident produced a reaction which gradually helped to reduce the death-rate. It is an absolutely fascinatingly evolving story.
'The Racing Driver' by Dennis Jenkinson is the classic treatise on what is required to become a top-line driver,and is written by the greatest motor sport writer of his day. 'Formula One - The Cars and Drivers' by Michael Turner & Nigel Roebuck tells the stories of great motor races using the paintings of Britain's greatest motorsport artist Michael Turner.Nigel Roebuck tells the stories behind the paintings, often using insightful driver quotes and recordings.
A recently published book is 'Classic Motorsport Routes' by Richard Meaden who illustrates and maps classic roads such as the Col De Turini and the Targa Florio that you find and then drive yourself. However you might find that your better-half may not be quite as keen on miles of tarmac as you are ! The last book I would recommend for the serious motor sport book collector is 'The Constant Search' by Charles Mortimer. This is a collectors guide and search-list with little reviews of all the significant books up to the 80's, rarity-values and as much detail as you could possibly want.

[EightGear]

F1 Fanatic is another good one - translated from Dutch it is the story of a young dutchman and his passion for F1 as he grows up in the 70's - the books on a shelf somewhere and I forget the authors name its somthing like Korem Vergeer (sp??) there are a few intersting translations but otherwise a really good read - go on tell me you didn't do half the stuff he did when you were 7!

Yeah, that's a very good book. His name is Koen Vergeer by the way.

[Amphicar]

I can thoroughly recommend David Tremayne's "The Lost Generation", which tells the tragically brief stories of Roger Williamson, Tony Brise and Tom Pryce: beautifully written and immensely moving.

Joe Saward's "The Grand Prix Saboteurs" is another must-read. The product of detailed and painstaking research, it recounts the wartime resistance exploits of three Grand Prix drivers: Willy Grover-Williams (winner of the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix); Robert Benoist and Jean-Pierre Wimille.

By contrast, if Tremayne's and Saward's books made me weep my next two selections both had me laughing out loud: "Crashed & Byrned" by Tommy Byrne and "Flat Out: Flat Broke" by Perry McCarthy.

"F1 Through The Eyes Of Damon Hill" is also worth reading: superb photos by Keith Sutton and painfully honest text by the man himself. It describes his first season with Jordan and a lot more besides.

Finally, anyone who is interested in current F1 and wants to know how it really works, must read one of the books about Bernie Ecclestone. I suggest either "Bernie's Game" by Terry Lovell or "No Angel" by Tom Bower. Although the Bower book is more recent and he had the subject's co-operation, I don't think it adds much to Lovell's account - unless you want to learn more about Bernie and Slavica.

[midgrid]

"Inside the Mind of a Grand Prix Driver" (I can't remember who wrote this but it was really interesting)

The late Christopher Hilton.

[jimjimjeroo]

What good F1 books are out there? I done Neweys "how to build a car" and Parrs " Total Competition"

[Risil]

I've brought this thread out of the archive as it contains lots of useful suggestions from our younger selves.

[SophieB]

I think of all the many books I read on Senna, my favourite is the short book by his girlfriend, Adriane Galisteu. An intriguing mix of touching innocence, shrewdness and occasional moments of unintentionally hilarious bathos, possibly exacerbated by some clumsy translations. 2nd place: Richard Williams’ book The Death of Senna, which also has plenty about the life of Senna. Benefits from Williams being an admirer of Senna but not an uncritical one. It’s neither hatchet job nor empty saccharine heroworship, both of which can be found on this subject, but a look at a complicated, complex man capable of awful behaviour and moments of grace.

Damon Hill’s autobiography, which among many things makes it clear how much closer to his heart two wheeled racing is and always was, plus details of a fascinating life where somehow being Formula One world champion was a big deal to him but not the only deal to him. A deeply fascinating man.

Jackie Stewart’s autobiography, like Damon’s, is also written without the aid of a ghostwriter, and like Damon’s, the occasional bit of duplication and oddity to the structure generally adds to the charm. I don’t know Sir Jackie so I can’t say it makes it feel more *like* him, but it definitely has a distinct and idiosyncratic tone of voice. Also he devotes at least one chapter to how much he loved his dogs which I found charming. Also how he is haunted by drivers who have died, and I don’t think he was being entirely figurative. Often extremely sad to read.

[Collombin]

What good F1 books are out there? I done Neweys "how to build a car" and Parrs " Total Competition"

It's a tricky one to answer without knowing your particular preferences or interests. Why not name some books that you like the sound of and see what those who have read them think?

[jimjimjeroo]

It's a tricky one to answer without knowing your particular preferences or interests. Why not name some books that you like the sound of and see what those who have read them think?

I don't read books tbh. I've used audible recently. Looking for my next

[Sir Mowog]

Thanks for bring this thread back. As a result, I just purchased the Graham Hill book which aligns well with my current reading of the BRM books by Doug Nye and Tony Rudd.

[jimjimjeroo]

It's a shame the Stephney book never happened