If you have any English books in your collection, you will probably already be familiar with this book. In 2010, journalist and Formula 1 expert Stuart Codling named it the best book of the "International Society for Vehicle Preservation", one of the most important international awards for motorsport journalists.
After four years, the German edition has now been published by GeraMond Verlag and, due to the later publication, extends to the Formula 1 cars from 2013.
When three experts publish a book
In addition to author Stuart Codling, two other people are responsible for the beautifully produced book: James Mann, one of the world's great automobile and motorcycle photographers, and Gordon Murray, former Formula 1 car designer and constructor at Brabham. This trio seems to harmonize very well, because the result in the form of this book is very successful and unique.
Formula 1 on a black background
Photo-savvy readers will particularly appreciate the extremely fascinating illustrations of the Formula 1 cars. Each vehicle is shown from all sides, beautiful details are generously shown from very close up, photographer James Mann demonstrates from page to page which silhouettes and lines were characteristic of the vehicle. And all this against a black background, where the colors really shine.
In between, however, there are also historical photos showing the car in races at the time or racing drivers who were behind the wheel at the time.
The mix of these historical photos and the modern studio photos adds a lot of variety.
From the Alfa Romeo 158/159 (1950) to the Lotus E21 (2013)
The book opens, of course, with the Formula 1 car that won the very first Formula 1 Grand Prix: Giuseppe Farina drove to first place in Silverstone in an Alfa Romeo and just imagine: he won with a car that was already 13 years old! Unimaginable today. The original car is shown in the book in freshly restored condition in every detail, a wonderful start to this Formula 1 chronology.
The technology is not neglected either
In addition to the actual description of the vehicle about its racing drivers and racing history, a commentary by Brabham designer Gordon Murray supplements the history of this vehicle from a technical perspective. You can always smile at the sentences when he talks about the development of the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 Formula 1 car, for example. Gordon Murray was actually always interested in the new designs of his colleagues, but with the Tyrrell P34 he only saw disadvantages, which he explains briefly but in depth.
How the photos were taken
In the last chapter, photographer James Mann explains that he knew very early on that he wanted to photograph the cars against a black background. Normally you would see the cars on the racetrack, in natural light, fully dynamic and not always sharp down to the last detail and often in the same daylight. However, he wanted to show the vehicles in such a way that they were completely in the center. Nothing should distract from the vehicle, the picture should not appear more valuable because of a wonderful background or a funny context.
The art of this photography is to show the object, in this case a Formula 1 car, all on its own without appearing boring. And after a few pages, the reader can already nod in agreement: James Mann has achieved this wonderfully!
But James Mann has not only come up with something special in terms of image composition. He also used an interesting photographic technique: In order to have as few reflections as possible on the bodywork, he removed more and more light sources in the studio so that the room ended up being very dark. In order to still show the vehicles completely in focus in this light (with maximum depth of field), he exposed the photos for up to 20 seconds. In the same sentence, he praises the age of digital technology, in which you can immediately check the result. In his early days as a photographer, he was only able to take 5 photos a day. Today he can achieve many times that.
Who will find the book interesting?
Anyone who generally likes Formula 1 sport and values high-quality photography should buy this book. For a reasonable price, you get a wonderful chronology of Formula 1 history, not complete, but very well prepared and unique in this form.
Formula 1 racing cars in this book
- Alfa Romeo 158/159
- Maserati 250F
- Mercedes-Benz W196
- Lancia D50
- BRM P57
- Brabham BT20
- Lotus 49B
- Lotus 72
- Tyrrell 003
- Tyrrell P34
- Ferrari 312T3
- Williams FW07
- McLaren MP4/4
- Leyton House CG901
- Jordan 191
- Williams FW14
- Ferrari F1-2000
- McLaren MP4-23
- Brawn BGP001
- Red Bull RB6
- Mercedes-Benz W03
- Lotus E21
Further information
- Order book from Amazon or directly from the publisher
- Hardcover edition: 240 pages
- Publisher: Geramond Verlag GmbH
- Language: German
- ISBN: 978-3862455942
- Dimensions: 28.8 (width) x 25.2 x 2.8 cm
- Price: Euro 49.99 (Amazon)
