The controversial 1994 season provoked at least two noteworthy ‘insider’ books: Damon Hill’s Grand Prix Year and Steve Matchett’s Life in the Fast Lane. Together they tell the stories of the two championship-contending teams that year: Williams (Hill) and Benetton (Matchett). And they make for an intriguing comparison with each other.
“Life in the Fast Lane” is the first of the two memoirs of former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett. It focuses on the particularly tragic, turbulent and controversial 1994 season which nonetheless eventually saw Benetton’s Michael Schumacher win the World Drivers Championship. Steve Matchett’s book tells the story of a season’s racing from a mechanic’s point [...]
In this week’s Trackside we previewed the Britcar 24 Hours race on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Also this week we did a feature on the fantastic Donington Grand Prix collection. Related links Autotrader.co.uk – Trackside: Racing ’round the clock (external) Autotrader.co.uk – Donington Grand Prix Collection (external) Tags f1 / formula one / grand [...]
James Hunt – hedonist extraordinaire. His legendary off-track exploits would more than fill a book – but happily this biography isn’t an overdose of sensation. Gerald Donaldson looks at Hunt from all angles: the consummate professional whose attention would nonetheless wander; the man who accrued vast wealth then carelessly squandered it; the party animal and [...]
Often we are told not to judge books by their covers. With this paperback edition of Robert Edwards’ 2001 biography of Sir Stirling Moss, do the exact opposite. The iconic picture of a youthful Stirling, face blackened by race track filth but for two goggle-sized spots gleaming white around the eyes. It’s all there in [...]
The predictable confirmation that the FIA’s ban on mass damper systems will be upheld has dealt a stinging blow to Renault’s hopes of retaining both the drivers and constructors championships. Fernando Alonso currently leads Michael Schumacher by ten points in the drivers’ championship and Renault head Ferrari byseven in the constructors’s title race. But the [...]
A round-up of Formula One news and comment from around the world this week. (All links external) New rules cost F1 workers dear – Pitpass (and others) have explained the dire consequences of the FIA’s engine freeze for employees of Cosworth – a plight a friend of mine was telling me about only last week. [...]
Grand Prix motor racing reaches its centenary in 2006 so this retrospective look at some of the behemoth racers from the dawn of the century is well-timed. It may be a little on the dusty side but you don’t need thick-rimmed glasses and an enormous beard to enjoy this book.
We all remember what happened when Michelin turned up at last year’s United States Grand Prix and discovered that their tyres couldn’t withstand the pummelling of the turn 13 banking. Well, just to prove that Formula One doesn’t own a monopoly on sporting cock-ups, a major cricket game has been forfeited and cancelled amid similar [...]
The three-week summer break came at a pivotal moment in the 2006 championship. Fernando Alonso was within 19 laps of dealing a major blow to Michael Schumacher’s recovery in the title battle at the Hungaroring. But an errant wheel nut – the first mechanical failure in a race for either of the championship protagonists this [...]
