Reviews articles archive

For many F1 fans, the week isn’t complete without grabbing five minutes to read Nigel Roebuck’s Fifth Column in Autosport. A shame, then, that he rarely finds the time to create an extended volume of his work such as this. “Chasing the Title” broadly covers anything and everything Roebuck chose to turn his mind to … Continue reading “Chasing the Title” (Nigel Roebuck, 1999)

After James Hunt’s World Championship victory in 1976 there wasn’t another British champion until Nigel Mansell in 1992. Even though British teams like Lotus, McLaren and Williams won championships in the intervening period, of British champions were none. That might have been very different had it not been for the untimely deaths of three promising … Continue reading “The Lost Generation” (David Tremayne, 2006)

Perry McCarthy’s account of his often disastrous attempts to make it as a Formula One diver is littered with hilarious anecdotes.

I’ve always been fascinated by the Pescara track. It is an anomaly in Formula One history, used only once for a World Championship race. And, at 25.5 kilometres (15.8 miles) in length, the longest circuit ever used for F1 – though many might automatically assume that record belongs to the Nurburgring. So I was delighted … Continue reading Review: “The Last Road Race” by Richard Williams

There is nothing new under the sun. Just as the FIA provoked intense debate when they imposed 2.4-litre V8 engines from 2006, so there was similar distaste over the imposition of 1.5-litre engines after the 1960 season. This new book from Mark Whitelock turns the spotlight on this “largely overlooked” period of Grand Prix history. … Continue reading Review: “One-and-a-half litre Grand Prix Racing 1961-65” (Mark Whitelock)

Few of us ever get the chance to get up close to Formula One cars. Unless you can blag a paddock pass, it’s difficult to get much of an impression of what goes on behind the scenes at a race weekend. “Inside Ferrari” puts the inner workings of the Scuderia on display through 285 pages … Continue reading Inside Ferrari (Jon Nicholson with Maurice Hamilton, 2006)

Michael Schumacher is heading for retirement, so place your bets now on how many new Schumacher biographies will be out in time for the Christmas market. There are plenty of books on the controversial seven-times champion already, though, one of the most recent of which is Timothy Collings “Team Schumacher”. This is not so much … Continue reading “Team Schumacher” (Timothy Collings, 2005)

Yet another biography of Ayrton Senna. I’m not sure what niche Christopher Hilton has in mind with this, his sixth book on the Brazilian thrice-champion. But you can’t deny that Senna sells. The Whole Story compiles four of Hilton’s ealier biographies, the first two of which pre-dated Senna’s death in 1994. They are The Hard … Continue reading “Ayrton Senna: The Whole Story” (Christopher Hilton, 2004)

Formula One is just one of the sports that Richard Williams covers for the Guardian, and that breadth of knowledge gives him a refreshingly broad approach to the often insular world of motor sport in general, and F1 in particular. He is also the author of several books on motor sport and in this biography … Continue reading “Enzo Ferrari: A Life” (Richard Williams, 2001)