F1 yearbook driver reviews, how did they get away with it?

[Irv the Swerve]

Originally Posted by luke

But they haven't taken things into acount,
respect for the champion?''

They probably should make an effort to put the performances in context, but no more than that. I don't see why they should have 'respect for the champion' (sic), they should just call it as it is. As you point out, if they want to call it as they see it, they should at least make a few valid points and try not to look silly by saying things like the author of the Villeneuve quote above.

[Jordi]

You see, in this very same yearbook, circa 2002, Massa was classified as having a "mosquito's brain" and De la Rosa was censured entirely on supposedly having contacts with the Spanish king and blaming other drivers (which he did - rightly - on Massa at Monza). What kind of credibility does this thing have?

[Redlake27]

I'm getting off topic now....but one thing that does annoy me about F1 books is shoddy captions and fact gathering.

I went to buy Ivan Rendells book The Power Game and in my first flick through in Waterstones I noticed three errors, so I left it on the shelf. Over Christmas, a relative gave me Timothy Collings Daily Telegraph F1 Years. That is shockingly bad!

The Brabham Climax is described as a Rover, a picture of Reims is described as being in Mexico, a picture of Barrichello emotional after finishing 2nd at Monaco in the Stewart is described as him being emotional after crashing out, a picture of Brands Hatch in Austria. These are just a few of the errors....


Even more amusing are the sub headings for each year. Now, I remember 1987 for Mansell's injury, active suspension, Williams domination, Mansell v Piquet.......but the Telegraph book shows 'Ghinzani banned' and 'DeCesaris blows up' as two of their landmark events that deserve a headline that year. It was only when turning to 1988, which I remember for McLaren domination and intense Senna Prost battles, does Collings choose 'Ghinzani excluded from 22nd on grid' as one of his highlights. Is Timothy Collings on a mission to rewrite old Piercarlo's contribution to F1 history?

This book will be on ebay later at 50 p..... it is that bad!

[Kicking-back]

I think the "Formula One Yearbook" is poor - and certainly does not compare to Autocourse.


But there is a genuine question here - would you dislike a book - however well researched and produced it may be - because it disagreed with your own personal opinions?

[Pondo]

I wouldn't dislike a book because I didn't agree with it, so long as there was reasoning and a decent agrument behind the difference of opinion. Just saying JV is rubbish because a monkey could have taken the title in '97 in a Williams is just lazy and provocative.

[Dixie Flatline]

There was a book recently released here in Australia about the politics in Formula One, so of course, it concentrated a lot on Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley.

But I didn't buy it. Why? Well, they spelt Ecclestone without the last 'e'. If you can't be bothered proof-reading the blurb on the back to ensure that the name of possibly the most influential people in Formula One is spelt correctly, how can your readers expect to take you seriously?

[Knowlesy]

The Formula 1 yearbook is awful anyways. Autocourse is much the better tome. then again, the price isn't.

Having said that, Autocourse isn't what it was either......

[Hazza]

And speaking of bad captioning the Times Book of "unseen" and "rare" f1 images has some pretty shoddy captioning.

"Here is Damon Hill practicing for the British Gp"
Realy? Strike me down! I didn't know Damon drove for Simtek whilest wearing David Brabham's helmet in '94...the things you learn! [/sarcasm]

And by the way - is this monkey the same monkey that could've won the WSBK title on Foggy's 916?

But personally, I don't buy books that agree with me, I like to buy books that inform me/give me an alternitive view. One of the Barry Sheene books did quite a good job of the Hero/Villan thing...

[Logrence]

There's so much **** on the market that they have to be opinionated to sell books and get noticed - that's why there's a thread on this book and not any of the others.

Think about it in terms of 10ths - if everyone agreed with each other it would be merely a simpering pile of ********...the fact that certain people have extreme opinions and that everyone is ready to debate is INT-ER-EST-ING!