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villyidol's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
3.25
A book about the 33 Formula 1 World Champions at the time (this was written before Max Verstappen became the 34th driver to win the title).
I only picked this up because I wanted to read the chapters about Kimi Räikkönen (brief, but good), Jim Clark (disappointing) and Ayrton Senna (okay, with a few nice passages). But I ended up reading at least 80% of it, so I decided to add and rate the book after all.
It's a short book. One only gets between 6 and 10 pages per driver, which includes some space for (nice) pictures. So, one shouldn't expect to get much more than a basic idea what kind of a person and driver the respective champion was.
The foreword was written by Bernie Ecclestone, who (gasp) chose Alain Prost as the greatest of them all. But Bernie being Bernie, a day later it could have well been Fangio. And then the week after maybe it was Senna. Well, at least he picked someone that is in the conversation. This is a question that is impossible to answer anyway.
Who had been the best of them all also isn't a question the book even tries to answer. In fact, it doesn't answer much of anything for people that already know a lot about the history of the sport.
I still enjoyed reading it. And it reminded me why I had been a fan of Jacques Villeneuve back in the day, what with his peculiar personality, a mix between nerd and adrenalin junkie, and his meteoric rise before his star burned up early.
I also realized that Nelson Piquet's personality had some similarities to James Hunt and Kimi Räikkönen, two drivers I admired. Piquet, on the other hand, I couldn't stand. But that's mostly down to his fraught relationship with Ayrton Senna, I think. Although, watching the late 70s and early 80s F1 seasons recently made him rise some places in my personal ranking of best F1 drivers.
Anyways, neither a bad nor a great book, this was decent entertainment for two or three evenings. I just wish that chapter about Jim Clark had been better.
I only picked this up because I wanted to read the chapters about Kimi Räikkönen (brief, but good), Jim Clark (disappointing) and Ayrton Senna (okay, with a few nice passages). But I ended up reading at least 80% of it, so I decided to add and rate the book after all.
It's a short book. One only gets between 6 and 10 pages per driver, which includes some space for (nice) pictures. So, one shouldn't expect to get much more than a basic idea what kind of a person and driver the respective champion was.
The foreword was written by Bernie Ecclestone, who (gasp) chose Alain Prost as the greatest of them all. But Bernie being Bernie, a day later it could have well been Fangio. And then the week after maybe it was Senna. Well, at least he picked someone that is in the conversation. This is a question that is impossible to answer anyway.
Who had been the best of them all also isn't a question the book even tries to answer. In fact, it doesn't answer much of anything for people that already know a lot about the history of the sport.
I still enjoyed reading it. And it reminded me why I had been a fan of Jacques Villeneuve back in the day, what with his peculiar personality, a mix between nerd and adrenalin junkie, and his meteoric rise before his star burned up early.
I also realized that Nelson Piquet's personality had some similarities to James Hunt and Kimi Räikkönen, two drivers I admired. Piquet, on the other hand, I couldn't stand. But that's mostly down to his fraught relationship with Ayrton Senna, I think. Although, watching the late 70s and early 80s F1 seasons recently made him rise some places in my personal ranking of best F1 drivers.
Anyways, neither a bad nor a great book, this was decent entertainment for two or three evenings. I just wish that chapter about Jim Clark had been better.
samiaslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Fans of F1, run, don’t walk, to Kindle Unlimited!! This was such a great read. It highlights all the amazing achievements of drivers, as well as F1’s brutal history of accidents, deaths and tragedies. I knew the sport was dangerous but every accident mentioned made my jaw drop.
It’s pretty short and easy to read, and briefly describes each world champion’s history and personality. It was a really great insight into their rivalries and journeys into the sport, and what they did after their retirement.
It also includes lots of photographs and it’s so cool to see how the sport has changed since the 1950s.
It’s pretty short and easy to read, and briefly describes each world champion’s history and personality. It was a really great insight into their rivalries and journeys into the sport, and what they did after their retirement.
It also includes lots of photographs and it’s so cool to see how the sport has changed since the 1950s.
jane_austyn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
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