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informative
reflective
fast-paced
This is one of the best books ever written about F1. I’ve been a fan most of my life and I like to think I have a good knowledge of the sport but this book taught me things even I didn’t know. The first few chapters are a bit dull, setting the scene etc but once it gets going this book is great.
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
funny
informative
relaxing
fast-paced
I had a great time reading this book. For reference, I am a fairly new F1 fan, but I have lots of background knowledge. I'll start with the small things I disliked about this book because, overall, I have mostly nice things to say. My main complaint is that sometimes in the storytelling, the timelines would jump around a bit. These jumps made sense narratively, but sometimes it made it hard to remember exactly what year/season was being spoken about. My secondary personal problem complaint is that I got the ick a little bit for F1 during the vegas chapter. It was all information I already knew but putting it all together in conjunction with the narrative voice of the book made me think about it too hard <3. Still like the sport and the book I just had a small moment.
As far as positives I think everything else about this book is so well done. There is a great mix of topics from engineering, to business, to personal stories, to team stories, and loads of new information. I think the balance between commonly known information and more niche info is balanced very well. In the Senna and Schumacher sections its almost impossible for fans of the sport to be completely ignorant of these eras but a great job is done in explaining who these men are and what made them special without feeling redundant to someone who knows the lore.
Great book for all levels of F1 knowledge.
As far as positives I think everything else about this book is so well done. There is a great mix of topics from engineering, to business, to personal stories, to team stories, and loads of new information. I think the balance between commonly known information and more niche info is balanced very well. In the Senna and Schumacher sections its almost impossible for fans of the sport to be completely ignorant of these eras but a great job is done in explaining who these men are and what made them special without feeling redundant to someone who knows the lore.
Great book for all levels of F1 knowledge.
this was a really well written, unique history of formula one that looked less at the drivers themselves and more at the structure of the sport and the sport as a whole. i enjoyed that - it gave a great insight into the whole world of it, cutthroat and brutal as it is, and detailed how the sport has changed across the decades. some non fiction is boring and hard to get through, but this was very easy to read and entertaining as well, something that sets it apart from most other f1 books.
there were a few things i didn't like about this book, though. one was the start, which lowkey sucked. it seemed just like drive to survive and didn't give me much hope for the rest of the book. i think the first chapter is almost out of place with the rest of the book - it doesn't mesh well or hook you in. i also think this book missed out a few topics - jules bianchi's fatal crash was glossed over in one sentence, bianchi not even mentioned by name, and the presence of the halo touched on just as briefly. i would say that that was something that deserved at least a paragraph, like come on.
I quite liked, though, how the focus wasn't really on the driving or the results - it was on the drivers and the teams themselves. however, the final chapters about Liberty Media and the changing face of the sport almost felt self-reporting - there were so many parallels to draw between the rise in social media and promotion of the sport/drivers and the way the book itself was written. i think those last chapters opened my eyes a bit to how formula 1 actually is now - although i wouldn't have become a fan without liberty media, i don't really like how the sport is. me & max verstappen have that alike - it's a sport, not a show. that's the main failing of libert media's strategy, and while this book definitely discusses that topic, it is contributing to it in the same way.
there were a few things i didn't like about this book, though. one was the start, which lowkey sucked. it seemed just like drive to survive and didn't give me much hope for the rest of the book. i think the first chapter is almost out of place with the rest of the book - it doesn't mesh well or hook you in. i also think this book missed out a few topics - jules bianchi's fatal crash was glossed over in one sentence, bianchi not even mentioned by name, and the presence of the halo touched on just as briefly. i would say that that was something that deserved at least a paragraph, like come on.
I quite liked, though, how the focus wasn't really on the driving or the results - it was on the drivers and the teams themselves. however, the final chapters about Liberty Media and the changing face of the sport almost felt self-reporting - there were so many parallels to draw between the rise in social media and promotion of the sport/drivers and the way the book itself was written. i think those last chapters opened my eyes a bit to how formula 1 actually is now - although i wouldn't have become a fan without liberty media, i don't really like how the sport is. me & max verstappen have that alike - it's a sport, not a show. that's the main failing of libert media's strategy, and while this book definitely discusses that topic, it is contributing to it in the same way.
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
My newfound adoration for Formula 1 has completely overtaken me. About two months ago, I don't think I could have told you anything about Formula 1, or any motorsports at all. Now, I can't get enough of it. I watched some of Drive to Survive, which was a good entryway. But the more I watched, the more produced it felt, which led me looking elsewhere for how to learn more about it. This book was extremely helpful in understanding the sport, its history, and its cultural implicaitons.
It is history and politics, but the writers capture the dramatics around those things so well and are really able to capture the intensity and stakes felt by the key players in each chapter. So grateful for how approachable this was, without holding back the details and research.
It is history and politics, but the writers capture the dramatics around those things so well and are really able to capture the intensity and stakes felt by the key players in each chapter. So grateful for how approachable this was, without holding back the details and research.