38 replies to this topic

[gwk]

Today, Joe Saward give high praise to a 'graphic documentary' by Adam Parr on his time in F1. Good Christmas present, I thought, but Amazon doesn't have it currently and doesn't know wehn it will be available. Is it out, and gone? Or still to come? Anybody have a source?

[F1ultimate]

Let us know if you manage to find it. I might order a copy for my brother.

[Imperial]

Surely all you need to know is what's already out there, in that he was yet another one to come into F1 with no sporting background (admittedly recruited by Sir Frank, not the usual buy-in's a-la Tony Fernandes etc), criticised pretty much everything that didn't fit with his view, tried to shape F1 into how he wanted it to be (apparently much to the chagrin of Mr E), and was then pretty much shown the door.

That he hasn't been snapped up by another team or seemingly even expressed a desire to work with another team shows how he is perceived by other teams and just how passionate he is about F1.

[showtime]

Today, Joe Saward give high praise to a 'graphic documentary' by Adam Parr on his time in F1. Good Christmas present, I thought, but Amazon doesn't have it currently and doesn't know wehn it will be available. Is it out, and gone? Or still to come? Anybody have a source?

From the Joe Saward blog: http://www.adamparr.net/

Adam Parr ‏@adam_s_parr
@HugoBrailsford Thanks! Predicted Amazon availability Monday - in the meantime, pre-order available by emailing emma.shortt@haymarket.com

Edited by showtime, 30 November 2012 - 14:42.

[gwk]

Great. Thanks.

From the Joe Saward blog: http://www.adamparr.net/

Adam Parr ‏@adam_s_parr
@HugoBrailsford Thanks! Predicted Amazon availability Monday - in the meantime, pre-order available by emailing emma.shortt@haymarket.com

[the9th]

Surely all you need to know is what's already out there, in that he was yet another one to come into F1 with no sporting background (admittedly recruited by Sir Frank, not the usual buy-in's a-la Tony Fernandes etc), criticised pretty much everything that didn't fit with his view, tried to shape F1 into how he wanted it to be (apparently much to the chagrin of Mr E), and was then pretty much shown the door.

That he hasn't been snapped up by another team or seemingly even expressed a desire to work with another team shows how he is perceived by other teams and just how passionate he is about F1.

Bernard, is this you?

[Imperial]

Bernard, is this you?

Ho Ho!

I am curious though as to whether mine is an extreme opinion or if it's the general consensus. I suppose it isn't to say the book may not be interesting actually. His perspective as essentially an outsider could be very interesting. I actually don't dislike him at all, just never really convinced by the folks who constantly dip in and out of F1.

[Tonka]

It's only 84 pages.

HTF can he have condensed his 5 years in F1 into so few words? It can't have any more insights into the sport than a Desperate Dan story.

[skinnyman]

and was then pretty much shown the door.

Good riddance, f*** him, and Nick Fry too.

[Ferrari_F1_fan_2001]

He seemed so nice. Aren't all English people with a posh accent(?)

What did he do wrong? I only know that his background was non F1 related.

[DanardiF1]

He seemed so nice. Aren't all English people with a posh accent(?)

What did he do wrong? I only know that his background was non F1 related.

As far as I can see the only thing he did wrong was dare to come from a non-F1 business background (in the eyes of the establishment in F1). Always seemed like a decent person who cared about the team he was working for. Sir Frank liked him and I think that's probably one of the best arbiters of a person's worth in the whole of F1...

[goldenboy]

I quite liked some of his commercial ideas. Seems to me his main sin was challenging bernie. But who really knows what happened.

[Timstr11]

Adam Parr should be credited for Williams' turnaround because the changes that led to their upturn were done under his lead.
He had trouble dealing with Bernie Ecclestone (any decent person would), which is why he was let go by Frank.
I will surely buy the book. Should be a good read.

Edited by Timstr11, 01 December 2012 - 10:03.

[olliek88]

It's only 84 pages.

HTF can he have condensed his 5 years in F1 into so few words? It can't have any more insights into the sport than a Desperate Dan story.

Its not a "book" as such, more of a comic book!

http://wtf1.co.uk/no...e-scenes-comic/

Edited by olliek88, 01 December 2012 - 10:16.

[Craigster]

Its not a "book" as such, more of a comic book!

http://wtf1.co.uk/no...e-scenes-comic/

W - O - W.
Just looked at this book on Amazon and if you click on the picture links to the left of the page one of them brings up descriptions about some people who are in the book:
http://www.amazon.co.../dp/0957453981/

Four statements are used to describe Max Mosley. They are The Love of Ideas, Thinking Ahead, Persistence and Generosity. They certainly aren't the descriptions which most people would associate with him! Like how was he ever generous to the teams or thinking ahead?? Parr worked with Mosley so he knew what he was really like. That alone is reason to trust Parr's description of him but then again Mosley has written a glowing introduction to the book! Could Parr have written anything other than a positive description of the man who wrote the intro to the book? Or did Mosley agree to writing the intro after the book had been completed? Who knows but either way the description doesn't seem right to me.

Edited by Craigster, 03 December 2012 - 03:27.

[HPT]

W - O - W.
Just looked at this book on Amazon and if you click on the picture links to the left of the page one of them brings up descriptions about some people who are in the book:
http://www.amazon.co.../dp/0957453981/

Four statements are used to describe Max Mosley. They are The Love of Ideas, Thinking Ahead, Persistence and Generosity. They certainly aren't the descriptions which most people would associate with him! Like how was he ever generous to the teams or thinking ahead?? Parr worked with Mosley so he knew what he was really like. That alone is reason to trust Parr's description of him but then again Mosley has written a glowing introduction to the book! Could Parr have written anything other than a positive description of the man who wrote the intro to the book? Or did Mosley agree to writing the intro after the book had been completed? Who knows but either way the description doesn't seem right to me.

But he can be a generous person after all, just not when it comes to business. I mean, why should he be generous to the teams? He regulates the sport while Bernie sees the commercial side of it. I definitely think the other three descriptions fit him well.

[Risil]

Like how was he ever generous to the teams or thinking ahead??

1. Generosity could easily mean in private, couldn't it?

2. Mosley definitely had the long term in mind. How else could he have become president of the FIA, then stay on top until brought down by the phone hackers (if it weren't for spanky spanky, he'd probably still be there now, let's be honest). "Green" F1 in the mid-2000s, putting the FIA's sporting and touring focus squarely on safety in the 90s, cost-cutting regulations in the 2000s that, whatever you think about them, most big racing series have now adopted, suggests both Love Of Ideas and Forward-Thinking.

Parr didn't say Mosley had "exceptional honesty", "dislike of confrontation", "interest in racing series outside of Formula One", did he?

Edited by Risil, 03 December 2012 - 15:59.

[Arry2k]

Got my order in today for this as I am quite curious to "read" it and I really need to get on an compile a small (decent) F1 book library. Anyone else getting this?

[g1n]

With this book, Amazon also suggests "The Grand Prix Saboteurs: The Grand Prix Drivers Who Became British Secret Agents During World War II", sounds gimmicky, any one read it?

[Risil]

Not gimmicky, that's literally what happened.

[Myrvold]

It also became a video game, called The Saboteur, based on William Grover-Williams.

Edited by Myrvold, 03 December 2012 - 20:41.

[g1n]

Not gimmicky, that's literally what happened.

It also became a video game, called The Saboteur, based on William Grover-Williams.

Interesting, thanks.

[highdownforce]

With this book, Amazon also suggests "The Grand Prix Saboteurs: The Grand Prix Drivers Who Became British Secret Agents During World War II", sounds gimmicky, any one read it?

It's Joe Saward's book, isn't it?

[Tommorris747]

W - O - W.
Just looked at this book on Amazon and if you click on the picture links to the left of the page one of them brings up descriptions about some people who are in the book:
http://www.amazon.co.../dp/0957453981/

Four statements are used to describe Max Mosley. They are The Love of Ideas, Thinking Ahead, Persistence and Generosity. They certainly aren't the descriptions which most people would associate with him! Like how was he ever generous to the teams or thinking ahead?? Parr worked with Mosley so he knew what he was really like. That alone is reason to trust Parr's description of him but then again Mosley has written a glowing introduction to the book! Could Parr have written anything other than a positive description of the man who wrote the intro to the book? Or did Mosley agree to writing the intro after the book had been completed? Who knows but either way the description doesn't seem right to me.

How was the proposed budget cap thinking ahead? The teams would have broken away if it wasn't for the cap being scrapped! What about the rear wing which was cut in two and was never introduced? How was that thinking ahead? How about selling the FIA's rights to Ecclestone for 300 million in 2001 despite them now being worth 10 billion? I don't see how that was thinking ahead. Max was persistent though and had to be virtually prized from his position. As for generous and loving ideas, I imagine that people like Flavio Briatore and Paul Stoddart would disagree. But there is no need for a straw poll. Just check Google for Max Mosley and see what descriptions come up. We can discuss this all we like but the truth is that most people around the world don't think of words like The Love of Ideas, Thinking Ahead, Persistence and Generosity when they hear the name Max Mosley. Funnily enough, Williams has gone from strength to strength since Parr left. I'm not saying there was a connection but there could be. Whilst Parr was at Williams it suffered some of its worst ever performance so, for that reason alone, I won't be putting money in his pocket by buying the book.

[packapoo]

It's Joe Saward's book, isn't it?

It is and a damn good read too.

[packapoo]

Got my order in today for this as I am quite curious to "read" it and I really need to get on an compile a small (decent) F1 book library. Anyone else getting this?

My copy is on the way.

[Craven Morehead]

What an odd turn of events. He wrote a comic book about his tenure in F1? WTF?

I guess I just never figured Adam Parr for a comic book junkie. F1 never ceases to surprise.

[aditya-now]

Today, Joe Saward give high praise to a 'graphic documentary' by Adam Parr on his time in F1. Good Christmas present, I thought, but Amazon doesn't have it currently and doesn't know wehn it will be available. Is it out, and gone? Or still to come? Anybody have a source?

I have it on preorder from Amazon. If you don't want to wait get it at http://www.adamparr.net

[ayali]

It's Joe Saward's book, isn't it?

Yep and it's a very good book too

I'll have Parr's book as a Christmas present, seems interesting and the chosen format is original

[Craigster]

Yep and it's a very good book too

I'll have Parr's book as a Christmas present, seems interesting and the chosen format is original

Time for my review! I’ve finished reading this and am not impressed. The vast majority of the events in the book are in the public domain but this is the tip of the iceberg. Many pages are press releases and articles which are copied literally word for word.

For example, the entire press release on the link below is presented on page 73 with the only other content being a 20 word description of what Parr did on 5 March 2012 (went to Australia to meet some sponsors before the first race):
http://www.williamsf.../news/view/2068

On the previous page the only content is the first two paragraphs of the following news story from Autosport along with 32 words about the last F1 test and Audi announcing they would enter cars in Le Mans using Williams Hybrid Power systems:
http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/97717

The first question and answer on the link below takes up pretty much all of page 25:
http://www.formula1....009/4/9291.html

The article on the link below is copied in full (except for the last line) and takes up half of page 70. The only other content on the page is a 65 word description of pre-season testing:
http://totalf1.com/f...proach_to_2012/

The only content on the following page is a 44 word description about pre-season testing.

Half of page 78 is taken up with a summary of the article on the link below which is described as “the most poetic account of my departure”:
http://f1mole.wordpr...es-a-boat-trip/

I could go on but you get the impression. It is a VERY short book (80 pages) with little insight which is not already known. The theme of the book is that although Williams had its worst ever season in F1 last year it was preceded by years of discussion about a budget cap and a resource restriction which Williams was in favour of despite them never being introduced as it wanted.

Page 49 describes how Martin Whitmarsh and Christian Horner apparently agreed between them five key terms which the resource restriction would be based on. Parr claims that “as far as I could tell, these ideas had not been discussed with anyone other than Christian Horner.” Parr adds that the chairmanship of FOTA should have revolved to Williams at the end of 2010 but because it was clear that no one would support him chairing FOTA, Whitmarsh stayed on for another year. “This was, with hindsight, a serious blow to FOTA,” claims Parr.

Although Parr presided over Williams’ worst ever season last year, he claims that it led to the team’s success in 2012. “It was only when things hit rock bottom that we all saw the need to change. Then we were lucky to find the right people and so quickly.” He describes his “dream team” as Mark Gillan, Williams’ chief operations engineer, Jason Somerville, Williams’ head of aerodynamics, and Mike Coughlan, Williams’ chief engineer.

On the last page Parr says “I do not want to suggest that success as we had was down to me alone.” This is reflected in the introduction written by Max Mosley who says that Parr “transformed the fortunes of Williams, a great but struggling team and made it profitable to the point of a stock exchange flotation.”

Parr has an unusual view of certain events. For example, he says that “the News of the World incident prevented Mosley from putting in place a budget cap in 2008.” This is funny because I thought that threats from the teams put that on ice.

Parr also mysteriously seems to have deleted Williams’ shareholder Toto Wolff from the record books as he only seems to be mentioned once (in one of the newspaper articles copied verbatim in the book). There may be a few other small mentions of him but I couldn't find them on my first read through. There are mini profiles of all the key people in the book at the start: Frank, his wife Ginny, Patrick Head, Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone, Sam Michael, Nick Fry, Jean Todt, Flavio Briatore, Ron Dennis, Christian Horner, John Howett, Tony Fernandes, Martin Whitmarsh, Luca di Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali, Ross Brawn, Vijay Mallya, Donald Mackenzie and Mike Coughlan. I wonder why Wolff isn’t amongst them...?

To finish up, I’d say that this is not a book – it is presented in the graphic style of a comic and in the printed format of a childrens’ annual (rectangular A4 shape with hard glossy covers). It will take you a couple of hours to go through at most so the value for money at £25 is questionable, particularly since there is next to no new content in it. However, you may spend a lot longer than that puzzling over some of the wording in it. My favourite comes when Parr talks about qualifying. If you can work out the reference at the end of the line below then send your answers on a postcard to @adam_s_parr

“Each lap had three sectors and on a typical circuit, sector times were relayed every twenty or thirty seconds – like a drug.”

[ayali]

Time for my review!

Thanks Craigster great review

Will still have it for Christmas although I now understand it's not all that fantastic
Appreciate the effort

[Risil]

“Each lap had three sectors and on a typical circuit, sector times were relayed every twenty or thirty seconds – like a drug.”

I'd say that's a pretty accurate reflection of how a few of our forumsters treat the live timing feed.

[alfa1]

I'd say that's a pretty accurate reflection of how a few of our forumsters treat the live timing feed.

Yes, you sit there anxiously awaiting the next number to pop up on the screen.
Like a junkie needing his next hit, you wait... wait... wait, and then YES, you've got that fix you need as you find out what the driver did.
And then you need more. The next sector time. Another. And another.

[Fastcake]

I'd say that's a pretty accurate reflection of how a few of our forumsters treat the live timing feed.

Especially the literal crash when you don't get it.

[Craigster]

Thanks Craigster great review

Will still have it for Christmas although I now understand it's not all that fantastic
Appreciate the effort

Better to be prepared than not. It's an unusual way of presenting the events just don't expect anything mindblowing (it's a lot like Williams' performance under Parr really)

@ Risil

I still don't 'get' the reference to a drug which has to be 'relayed' every twenty or thirty seconds. From what you are saying I presume he thinks it is addictive like a drug but that isn't true. The sector times aren't obtained so frequently because the prat perchers are addicted to them but because they need them that frequently to do their job well. There's a difference which Parr doesn't seem to follow.

[Risil]

I still don't 'get' the reference to a drug which has to be 'relayed' every twenty or thirty seconds. From what you are saying I presume he thinks it is addictive like a drug but that isn't true. The sector times aren't obtained so frequently because the prat perchers are addicted to them but because they need them that frequently to do their job well. There's a difference which Parr doesn't seem to follow.

That's just the difference between the recreational and performance-enhancing kind.

[Sakae]

Isn't Parr also responsible for pit-stops operations? I do not follow his footsteps too closely, but I thought that he is the man who leads McLaren efforts in that area. I heard about targets of 2.5 sec per event, but I also remember some pretty dark pit-stops, which begs a question what kind of positive contribution he brought to McLaren this year? His book (which I haven't read), probably is not addressing that chapter because of timing issues related to publishing time line.

[jcbc3]

No, Sakae.

That's Sam Michael.

[Tonka]

Why does this cartoon book remind me of The Eagle ?

Oh yeah, compare the baddies !



http://dandare.org/d...mekon/mekon.htm