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“Champion: Hunt” (DVD)

This is one of the more contemporary titles in Duke Video’s series of video biographies of notable champions. 1976 champion James Hunt was one of the sport’s most unusual characters, and his championship-winning season is just begging to be made into a feature film. There’s a lot of high quality footage and it’s been carefully [...]

“50 Years of Formula One On-board” (DVD)

An enticing prospect, but the title of this DVD is a little misleading. Yes, it features on-board footage of Formula One cars dating back around 50 years. But realistically, only since the mid-1980s have Formula One cars regularly been fitted with on-board cameras while racing. So this DVD features a mix of early flirtations with [...]

“Showdown” (1990 season video)

Another typical early ’90s Frontrunner tape as all the incidents from another cracking season are crammed together into an action packed hour. Although too short, this is more watchable than the 1989 video thanks to a good commentary and more thoughtful editing that shows slightly more of each race than the crashes. That said this [...]

“Mansell v. Senna” (1991 season video)

The Front Runner videos use the same Formula One Constructor’s Association (FOCA) footage as the official reviews do, but the tapes are usually shorter. At a scant 60 mins for 16 races, the 1991 review is no exception. However it does pack a fairly thorough review of the season into this single hour. There’s no [...]

“Duel of the Champions” (1989 season video)

1989 was a classic season, hinging on the rivalry of two of F1′s greatest drivers. This video gamely tries to compile all the relevant footage into one hour but it just doesn’t quite work. Instead the hour is a breathless rush through incidents and accidents of the year without ever really making sense. This is [...]

“Double First: Williams and Jones” (1980 season dvd)

The Brunswick material stands out in terms of quality but is lacking in depth. Often entire races are missed and some have only fleeting moments of action. Such is the case with this DVD (also available on video, as the rest of the series are.) The South African, Spanish, German and Austrian rounds are all [...]

Montezemolo blames Bridgestone, rules

Ferrari chief Luca Montezemolo has hit out at tyre supplier Bridgestone after Michael Schumacher’s double tyre failure at Barcelona. “We have a very competitive car, but we have a big problem with the tyres,” he told the press. A statement in response to his remarks read, “Bridgestone understands his frustrations and we are working closer [...]

Spanish Grand Prix 2005 Media Review

Kimi Raikkonen’s won a race, and so the F1 journalists roll out the inevitable ‘Iceman’ puns. Meanwhile, ITV apologised for their almighty cock-up during the San Marino Grand Prix. Before we get stuck into the papers, a word on ITV. Justly chastised for cutting huge swathes of the Fernando Alonso-Michael Schumcher battle in favour of [...]

The Master and the Doctor

Six years into the new millennium and so far the top levels of four- and two-wheeled motorsport, Formula One and Moto GP, have been dominated by two men: Michael Schumacher and Valentino Rossi. Both have been practically unbeatable, but comparing them reveals intriguing differences. The first, obvious, similarity is their astounding successes and shared desire [...]

The Battle at the Back

The cameras follow the fight at the front: there’s nothing wrong with that. But at the other end of the grid Minardi and Jordan are battling each other with equal ferocity, and a fascinating duel is beginning to develop between the two minnows of Formula One. Jordan and Minardi are, in relative terms, the poor [...]