planetf1.com

www.motor-sport-books.co.uk small site , but some intresting books

My lifelong interest in Grand Prix racing was and is sustained by books, and magazines. It ha sbeen good to read posters views and reviews on this thread, about the many good books out there.

One of my frustrations was reading of Fangio, Moss, Clark, Lauda, Senna, etc and then old books about prewar racing and drivers Rosemeyer, Caracciola, and Nuvolari, as if they inhabited a different world from F1.

Starting with pasting up scrap books of each major, classic-quality race from before 1950, I built up a clearer picture and concluded that pre-and-post-F1 racing were one and the same thing. People have not changed. The competitiveness and talents that put Nuvolari in front are the same as those that propel Vettel or Alonso.

This led to me writing my first book in 1994, which collated and analysed racing from 1894 to 1993. Max Mosley kindly wrote a nice forward in which he said "[POB] looks at performance behaviour on a comparative basis and by applying consistent criteira to the entire period he appears succesfully to link present day motor racing with that before the birth of the World Champiomship in 1950."

My book lists 297 races from 1894 to 1949 that I considered equivalent to the F1 Championship events after 1950. Treating 1894 to 1993 as one era, I made many comparisons such as race-finishing rates, retirement reasons, number of winning drivers and cars per season, lead changes, winning margins, relationship between grid position and race results, etc. illustrated on simple bar graphs and tables. Over 400 illustrations of cars and drivers covering the hundred years.

As a historical base connecting F1 with the earlier era, I received positive comments from Paul Frere, Jurgen Barth, Peter Windsor and posters on the PF1 Forum.

Titled "Grand Prix: a Century of Racing" it is reviewed on my blog, there are some copies available - please e-mail me via the address on my blog.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

As many posters know I have been working on my Rating System for some time. This study is really a develoment of my 1994 Book's analysis.

The F1 era is ready to be published in seven volumes, one for each decade: Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties, 2000s and 2010-2013.

The first volume 'The 2000-2009 Seasons' is now available; 80 pages incl tables and illustrations, each season treated in three sections: Package, Driver and Car. Info posted on my blog.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

When I read the discerning reviews above here, I realise I must be more gullible! Every book I have has impressed me, imo each well-written and ful of new/extra info:
Pole Position about D Hill
Eddie Irvine's Life at the Limit
Damon Hill
Schumacher by Collings
Life at the Limit by Syd Watkins
Alain Prost by Hilton
Villeneuve by Donaldson
The Pits by Turner
Graham Hill with Neil Ewart
and seevral more inexpensive paperbacks.

Others I enjoy for years, old hardcover classics, more tech and very informative:
Maserati 250F by Chris Hall
Indycar by Roger Hiuntingdon highly recommended for tech explanations in layman's terms.paperback
The Grand Prix Car by Pomeroy two vols cover 1906 -1953, now collectors item but I got mine cheap 20 years ago
The Grand Prix Car by Setright, follows on from Pomeroy covers 1954-1966
HIstory of the Grand prix Car by Nye, brilliant and so full of minute intereting details that explain a lot of what happened to teams and cars, championships.
Alf FRancis, Racing Mechanic, old early sixties hardcover, but possibly one of the most informative books 'from the inside'.
Many books available on Amazon at reasonable prices.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

The second volume of my Rating System, covering the years 2010-2013, is posted on my blog.
My intention is to publish the decades going back from the Nineties, Eighties, Seventies, Sixties to the Fifties.

Late edit, in Jan 2016, but I'm a slow writer! Now published the decades 1990s, 1980s, 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, 1940s 1930s with 1920s and 1910s soon to be released.

With each decade, despite the huge technical differences, I am always amazed at how similar the racing and competition has remained between drivers.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

Automobile Quarterly: recently read sad news that this great publication had folded.
Started in 1962 as a quarterly 'magazine'(more like books) in beautiful, landscape format, it comprsied articles on all marques and motoring, racing from all over the world. What was so good was that specialists wrote on their own subjects. One of the best contributors was Californian historian, researcher Griff Borgeson, who uncovered so much of motoring history, speicalising in Miller racers and French manufacturers and designers.

A really top-rate publication.; the quality was outstanding.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

Someone lent me that huge book "Mon Ami Mate" on Hawthorn and Collins. Very good of course, but am I wrong to dislike the very private, personal details that were revealed and followed up about Hawthorn's son? I thought this added nothing to the story or history of the racing.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

Very interesting question, Patrick. I don't know anything about Hawthorn's son so I can't imagine what was written, but did you feel it detracted from the entire book? What did you think of it overall?

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The book and research were excellent, learned so much about Hawthorn and Collins. I felt as if the whole section on the mother and son was prying into their very private affairs, and not for a book on a race driver. Made me uncomfortable and did not seem necessary at all. Good to read how good Hawthorn was mechanically, at car set-up and how naturally talented he was as a driver. He used to show off while at tech college before classes by riding his m'bike along the tops of the yard walls about 3 to 4 metres high!

Denis Jenkinson was badly attacked criticised in another book for being detached and unemotional when drivers he knew crash-died. Imo DSJ was right, why bring in his own personal take /feelings on those tragedies, when he is reporting on races?

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

Just finished Michael Schumacher: The Edge of Greatness, and have to say it was a well-written book with a good insight into how the man worked not just on track, but behind the scenes also.

Whilst mostly everything detailed in the book was not new to me, it was interesting to read just how far he was willing to go in pursuit of excellence. Some risks paid off (Adelaide '94), whereas others didn't (Jerez '97 and Monaco 2006). It also gave a good perspective of how others viewed him, those who worked with him (Irvine's quotes were brilliant - if not tinged with a hint of jealousy) and the casual fan's perception of him over the years.

When I finished the book I felt some pride in that I supported such a brilliant driver during his career, but also felt some sadness that, given F1's new rules and regs restricting everything a team or driver can do, we'll never see a type of complete driver like Schumi again. Alonso may have come close, but even he is limited to what he can do at Ferrari these days.

9/10

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#KeepFightingMichael

Great review

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Has anyone read anything (or seen any film) about the Grand Prix driver Hellé Nice? I just stumbled across her through a footnote and a basic read through her history sounds like it would make for an amazing book.

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Danger is real, fear is choice.
PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Best Round Result: 1st (Monaco '12 & '15, Silverstone '14, Austria '15, Mexico '15, China '16)
Podiums: 11
2018 Championship Standing: oh jeez...

(UK ONLY) Lunches With Legends by Maurice Hamilton

In F1Racing magazine each month Maurice Hamilton interviews F1 related people.
You can get all the interviews in extended versions in the book 'Lunches with Legends'

Click the link below and get the book for FREE direct from the publisher.

http://themagazineshop.com/Products/lunches-with-legends

Source cmorephotos

Not read it myself, but..

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/j ... ianreview7

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Edit: meant to put that in the TV thread and it's a bit late now.

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IV

Recently read "Unfair Advantage". It's the autobiographical tale of American Mark Donohue's 1st racing career - from his first hill climb in a 50s Corvette to his 3rd place podium finish in the Canadian GP to his domination of the Can Am series with some of the highest power-to-weight cars to ever set tire to road course. It was overall an enjoyable read but seemed a bit too generic in its details. I was expecting a bit more technical explanations from such a highly regarded driver-engineer. And it just wasn't there. Still, some great anecdotes - some decent insight into several key drivers of the time, from Andretti to Gurney (whom he held in very high esteem) to Stewart (respected but didn't know much about him) to Foyt to Revson (clear dislike of his attitude and character). And the first few chapters read like my own personal grassroots racing life that happened 40+ years later. So was wonderful to see similarities in the racing lifestyle no matter the generation.

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[ Kimi Raikkonen ]
2007 Formula 1 World Drivers Champion

Not exactly F1 - but 'Speed Six' - by Bruce Carter - a late 1950s book where a group of drivers determine that the power and performance of a 1930s Speed Six bentley at Le Mans could still be competitive if you retrofitted disc brakes. Remembering this is the car that filled the podium in the 30s and was a powerhouse of its day (and of course the second world war put a stop to motor sport activity and development for a long time). He wrote another called Four Wheel Drift - which I've not been able to get a hold of. I read them as a boy - but found the former a few years ago in an op shop - and it stood up pretty well I thought.

Anyone read the new book about Prost by Maurice Hamilton? I just read an excerpt on Amazon and it looks pretty decent.

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#KeepFightingMichael

AS an old fan brought up on such great journalism as Jenkinson's 1955 Mille Miglia race and George Monkhouse's report on the 1937 Donington GP, I thought I'd never read more exciting work.

That was until the 1998 published racing biog of US track-racer Jud Larson, who drove midgets, sprint cars and Indy Roadsters on dirt, fairground, Indy, Daytona and other surfaced banked tracks, from 1939 to 1966. Larson was 6 foot and 220 lbs, a dirtpoor cowboy from the south-west USA, a real character. The biog was written by Spencer L Riggs for Automobile Quarterly, October 1998, Vol 38 Number 2, titled: "Jud Larson, The Last Cowboy".

Larson's talent was incredible: he started and won races early on against such stars as Hinnerschitz and Nazaruk, and ended winning against the new generation of Foyt, Unser, Branson, Rutherford and Andretti in the mid-sixties when he was in his 40s..

Riggs captures Larson's humour and drawl so well: when he arrived to drive the pink John Zink roadster (Indy 1958) : "Wheweee! Zink didn't tell me the critter was pank!" After he typically dived inside down the banked turn on a dirt track to win a close finish, Larson told his rival (who had a faster car) : " Ah had to think o' somethin' quick. You was goin' too fast." After bad crash burns to his legs and feet necessitating skin grafts, he would have to walk around barefoot after many of his later races: "Mah ol' dogs is overheated". Like Fangio did on occasion if a rookie backmarker was holding him up, Larson would nerf him or ' clack wheels', then afterwards approached the guy after the race: " " Gosh,son, Ah-all is real sorry Ah-all hit you like that, Ah-all won't never do that again."

Apart from the humour, Riggs's race descriptions are exceptional. He witnessed those races,and captures the atmosphere and excitement of the fast, short oval track races, with bellowing 4.2 litre Offy or 4.6-litre Chev V8 engines, torque-lifting their inside front wheels in the turns. He describes racing competition at its ulitmate pitch; highly recommended.

Unfortunately Automobile Quarterly went out of business about two years back, but for any car/racing enthusiast, finding old copies would be worthwhile. Cars and racing from all over the world is included. I was fortunate to get a full set (from an old, struggling ex-driver in Johannesburg back in 1997.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

Before I started posting here, I could always see sense in your posts and agreed with your system, and when I started posting here, I was thrilled to see you agreed with many of my posts and viewpoint. The agreement of someone as experienced as you gave me more confidence in my views on F1. I'm going to buy your book, and I can't wait to read it.

I hope it's possible to buy it living in India.

Try abebooks.com

can get books from all locations - just check postage costs, sometimes ok, sometimes ridiculous

also - four wheel drift, bruce carter - set in 50s but another great motor racing / F1 related book

Just finished Webber's autobiography. Very well written and confirmed what we all knew about who really pulls the strings at RBR. It's strange that Mateschitz seemed to side with Mark and yet did nothing about Marko.

The last of the true 'outspoken' drivers who told it like it is.

Now, onto Mansell's autobiography, then Damon's.......

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#KeepFightingMichael

I'm reading Max Mosley's book at the moment and it is absolutely fascinating. Would definitely recommend.

It must be fascinating with Mosley being so central to F1 for so long.
I've heard a couple of stories direct from his March drivers and about consultants which I'm sure Max has forgotten to mention in his book. A tough nut.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

After publishing my Rating System in 13 volumes, one for each decade from 1894 to 2013, I have now published my thesis, explaining how my System works. It includes reviews of the existing rating studies by Pomeroy, Setright,Boddy, Ickx Snr, the various magazine polls, and Andrew Phillips' and Andrew Bell's recent studies. 184 pages, soft covered it can be accessed via my blog.

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http://grandprixratings.blogspot.com

F1 All The Races 1950-2015 by Roger Smith

James Allen On F1 2009-2013 by James Allen

Beyond The Pit Lane by Louise Goodman

Working The Wheel by Martin Brundle

Silverstone by Chas Parker

The Inside Track by Jake Humphrey

The Official F1 Season Review 2004-2014

Total Competition by Ross Brawn & Adam Parr

Autobiographies by Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Nigel Mansell, Mark Webber, Murray Walker, Johnny Herbert

The above are all well worth a place on my bookshelf, alongside the official F1 yearly reviews, providing both a nice memento and reference to seasons past, as well as an insight into F1 life.

Just finished Mark Webber's Aussie Grit. It's a really honest, down-to-earth, no-nonsense look back at his entire motor racing career, discussing in detail its many highs and lows. In particular the amount he was willing to go into about the Webber-Red Bull relationship from 2009 onward really created a much better picture of the lack of harmony between the team's management, drivers and team personnel than I'd ever realised. It makes me wonder how similar the Marko-Vettel relationship is to the Marko-Verstappen relationship in 2017.

It's a very easy to read book, and at ~350 pages the committed night-time reader could probably get through it in a couple of weeks.

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Sounds good. Last year, I ran through Gerald Donaldson's book about Gilles in roughly four days. I couldn't put it down.

Four days! Nice work. I read it a few years back and was really impressed by its depth. I went into it not knowing a whole lot about GV, and came out of it feeling like I'd received a pretty comprehensive look into his personal and racing lives.

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Just started reading this - looking forward to what's inside..!

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Should I grow a beard?

Williams car on way to Barcelona...
An update from the Williams team: The team expect their 2019 car to arrive at the circuit 'between 4 and 5 on Wednesday morning,'
The team say there will still be 'a fair amount of work to do' when it arrives and it's 'unlikely' the car will run in the morning session.
But the impression at least is that they expect to run at some point tomorrow. Which is certainly of some encouragement.