Formula One: The Champions

What a good book this was to read about F1 champions through the years. I wouldn't call myself an ardent F1 fan but I enjoy following from a distance this sport, especially to see who does become F1 champion of the year. Sadly reading this book, it reminds you that so many died for a sport and well done to the likes of Jackie Stewart who fought to get safety improved. What I also enjoyed in this book was the excellent use of photographs, helped to really capture each champion.

Formula One is generally thought of as the pinnacle of motorsport and it follows that those who have become world champion have achieved the very highest accolade the sport has to offer. Since it was first introduced, in 1950, the races that comprise the championship have spanned the globe. There have been 33 champions from 14 different nations. To win the overall prize it’s necessary to accrue points from the various races, with the driver holding most points at the end of the season being crowned the winner.

This gorgeous book celebrates the various champions with a section on each. Of course there are a number of drivers who have achieved this feat more than once, the legends of the sport such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and the current champion Lewis Hamilton, but for many it was a once only achievement. Some of the stories told here are extraordinary but there is sadness too, it’s a dangerous sport and when twice world champion Alberto Ascari drove his car into the harbour during the Monaco Grand Prix, in 1955, it was amazing that he survived the incident. Tragically, he was to be killed in his race car just four days later.

I’ve been a follower of this sport for many years and can recall those featured here from Scotsman Jackie Stewart onwards. My personal favourites include British drivers James Hunt, Nigel Mansell and of course Lewis Hamilton. My son is an avid fan and we plan to spend three days at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone later this year. This book is a visual feast for followers of Formula One, with the wonderful photographs supported by brief but informative text. A superb item for anyone who is captured by this exciting and dramatic sport.

An in depth record of all the F1 world champions packed with information and crammed with action photographs capturing personality and the cars they drove. 70 years is a hard span to bridge and this publication does so with ease and great skill.
There is no attempt to assess the best of the best. Rather it shows talent in its various forms that when driver and car were in harness winning was still i undermined by a number of factors. Reliability, politics, injury, team orders and support crews.
I saw my first foreign Grand Prix at Zandvoort in 1975 and followed the sport closely for a while reading Autosport weekly. I also got their equivalent of an annual each year reflecting on the past season.
With motor racing journalism the hardest part seems to me to be brief while still being relevant and clear. This is what marked out this book and the precise writing style that devoted similar column inches to each driver regardless of multiple championships or one year successes.
It was a good reminder of all the stars who have achieved the ultimate accolade over long and far travelled circuits that make up the racing calendar.
In my time I was aware of the dangers when things go wrong and remember the loss of drivers regardless of skill, experience and car they drove. It was good to be reminded of Jackie Stewart’s stand to improve basic safety and the medical teams, stewards and race marshals we take for granted. It still came as a shock to see the deaths of drivers and spectators in the earlier years of this sport.
A better summary of these great champions you be hard to find. Certainly it is worth it for the photographs alone. With pointers where to go for more in depth reading and feed your interest.
I loved the humanity of the pen portraits which highlighted dignity and respect in the sport. The best example perhaps the driver who remembered a former mechanic in their time of need.