Formula 1 The Knowledge reviewed

F1 reviews

Posted on

| Written by

With several Formula One statistics websites competing for your clicks it’s becoming harder to make a case for shelling out for books on the subject. Particularly when they have the inevitable disadvantage of not being as recent as the material which can be found online.

But the exhaustive scope of “Formula 1 The Knowledge” puts it beyond what most sites can supply. David Hayhoe has authored many books on Formula One statistics and displays sheer mastery of the subject in this substantial work.

As you might guess, this is not a book you’re likely to read cover to cover in one sitting. But nor is it a dull listing of the results of every single grand prix – something which can easily be unearthed with a browser.

This is all about metrics, and it goes far beyond the obvious ‘who won the championship earliest in the season’. This book can tell you which driver took the most consecutive fastest laps at the same track, which was the only team to score a podium finish in its final race and how every team which competed in the world championship got their name.

You might find a book filled with pages of F1 data is a bit dry in places. On the other hand, you’re reading a website called F1 Fanatic, so probably not.

The reams of numbers are garnished in places by a selection of photographs, many the author’s own. But it’s the thoroughness of the job which has been done with the numbers which really impresses.

It’s always risky to call something ‘definitive’, but this deserves the term. It’s almost inconceivable that you could pick this book up with a Formula One statistics question in your mind and not find the answer within its pages.

Win: Formula 1 The Knowledge

We’ve got two copies of Formula 1 The Knowledge to be won as part of the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship. Enter here:

F1 Fanatic rating

Buy Formula 1 The Knowledge

Read all the F1 Fanatic book reviews.

Formula 1 The Knowledge

Author: David Hayhoe
Publisher: David Hayhoe Publications
Published: 2016
Pages: 434
Price: £35.00
ISBN: 9780993532900

Reviews

Browse all Reviews

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

15 comments on “Formula 1 The Knowledge reviewed”

  1. ‘This book can tell you which driver took the most consecutive fastest laps at the same track, which was the only team to score a podium finish in its final race’

    If I had to guess: David Coulthard (French Gp 1998-2002) and Brawn surely?

    1. Brawn was my first thought too.

      1. Yes, Brawn. Jenson Button came third.

      2. In some ways it is surprising that this has only happened once, I would have expected it to have happened at least once before.

  2. Sounds like a good read. Great front cover too, I wonder where the two old Mercs are racing at? Zandvoort? Looks like sand dunes but who knows.

  3. Only tenuously on topic with this story but can anyone recommend any F1 books that mean more towards a technical analysis of historical cars and teams?

    It’s hard to put my finger on the reason for my particular curiosity for the back story to some of the relatively unknown teams and the machines they engineered, but I get a great deal of satisfaction from reading about ‘also rans’ and ‘nearly’ teams.

    The old Formula One Rejects website was a great source of material for some of the failures of optimistic visions from yesteryear, but I always found myself intrigued by the cars and teams rather than the drivers and races.

    1. @andybantam Oh boy I miss Formula One Rejects. It was an awesome, awesome website

    2. I’d recommend Autocourse’s History of the Grand Prix Car (by Doug Nye). I have the 1966-85 version and it’s filled with pretty much anything you’d ever want to know.

      1. @kaiie

        Thanks very much for the info. It has been duly noted.

  4. An F1 statistics book that gets rated 5/5 on F1F? Yeah I think I’m going to have to buy this one :)

    1. No other site that I’ve found matches up to http://www.statsf1.com/ although it’s translated mostly from French.

    2. the article explains clearly the level of detail reached by the book, wich the link(s) you provided seemingly do not.

    3. I never rely on Wikipedia for anything because of the sheer number of errors it always contains.

Comments are closed.