Reviews of the best F1 gear
Enhance the F1 experience with the latest must-have products
F1 2019: THE OFFICIAL VIDEOGAME PS4, Xbox One & PC Price £49.99 formula1game.com
F1 2019, the latest version of Formula 1’s highly successful and officially licenced game, has appeared on sale two months ahead of its usual annual release date. The latest version of the game is now available for PS4, Xbox One and PC. As ever it features every track on the calendar and the 2019 driver and team combinations and liveries.
New to this year’s title is the addition of the FIA F2 championship with drivers and teams based on the 2018 season. An update of this year’s grid will available as a free digital upgrade in due course.
Once again there is also a host of classic F1 machinery to drive and a special Senna & Prost ‘Legends Edition’ featuring the Mclaren MP4/5B and the Ferrari F1-90 from 1990.
“Every year we make great strides so the game is as authentic and immersive as possible,” says Lee Mather, F1 game director at Codemasters. “We also know from fan feedback the classic cars our community want to race. We hope the returning roster, alongside the new vehicles from the Legends and Anniversary editions, will give them the choices they crave.”
As ever, this is a must for any F1 gaming enthusiast.
F1 MANAGER IOS & Android Price Free (in-game purchases) hutchgames.com
You wait all year for a new F1 game to appear and then two go on the market in the same month. Designed for your phone and tablet, rather than putting you in the driving seat, the new F1 Manager game places you on the pitwall.
There are a few of these games available on the market, including IGP manager, which we featured last month, but this is officially licenced and features the real F1 circuits in addition to 2019 drivers and teams.
This is a racing strategy management game in which you undertake a longer-term plan to collect car components and develop your machinery to win promotion to better divisions.
The second aspect of the game is to make in-race decisions, by selecting the correct pitstop strategy and tyre compounds, managing fuel and reacting to weather changes and Safety Car periods. If you’ve ever been dumbfounded by a team’s tactical decisions during a grand prix now is your chance to prove you can do better. A good way to pass the time on a daily commute.
ONE FORMULA:
50 YEARS OF CAR DESIGN Gordon Murray Price £225 porterpress.co.uk
In a huge book, across two volumes and totalling nearly 950 pages (measuring 300mm x 300mm), legendary designer Gordon Murray lovingly details the cars he has been responsible for over the past 50 years. Printed on thick, glossy paper, the book itself is a design triumph, incorporating not only a wealth of archive photographs, but drawings, letters, design plans and doodles from Murray’s extensive back catalogue – there are 1,200 illustrations in total.
Enthusiasts will particularly enjoy his Mclaren F1 period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which includes one of the most successful cars of all time, the MP4/4. The book reveals great technical insights into the design and production of the car, including Murray’s hand-drawn schedule for building the car ahead of the 1988 season. The book has clearly been a labour of love and is a fitting testament to Murray’s extraordinary career spanning 50 years, more than 70 designs and thousands of drawings.
SENNA 360 IOS & Android Price Free to download ($1.99 annual subscription for some features) senna360.org
To mark the 25th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death, his family-run charitable foundation has developed a mobile app as a tribute, giving aficionados of the three-time world champion the chance to explore his former cars – from Formula Ford to Formula 1. The ‘360’ aspect allows the user to experience Senna’s cars and helmets in augmented reality, by utilising the camera on their phone to place them in real world scenarios.
There is also a mini game in which you pilot an animated Senna car avoiding obstacles which, amusingly enough, include Alain Prost’s helmet. While this is primarily a bit of fun, the virtual museum and interactive experience require an annual subscription of $1.99. That’s because the proceeds support the charitable services of the Instituto Ayrton Senna, the foundation that helps children in Brazil.
1000TH GP COIN Silver & gold Price: $1,500 minimum order roslandcapital.com/f1
Attention all numismatists (coin collectors)! Made from fine silver and gold, a new limited-edition coin was recently unveiled to celebrate the 1000th Formula 1 world championship grand prix.
The officially licenced coin features the names of the historic locations that have hosted F1 races since 1950, as well as a portrait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II together with the legal tender value of the coin. There are various denominations of coins available: 2,000 examples in 2.5oz silver, 100 pieces of the 1kg silver coin and just ten of the 1kg gold coin.
Precious metals dealer Rosland Capital has previously unveiled officially branded F1 gold and silver coins. All the gold coins are 999.9 fine gold while the silver coins are 999.0 fine silver and are legal tender proofs minted by Swiss-based PAMP SA, one of the world’s finest producers of precious metal coins.
MY GREATEST DEFEAT By Will Buxton Price £19.99 evropublishing.com
Author Will Buxton will be more familiar – particularly for our American readers – as a television presenter, as he was formally the Formula 1 pitlane reporter for both SPEED and NBC Sports on
US TV. Prior to that Buxton was a commentator for the GP2 Series, having started as a press secretary to the championship. Today he works for Formula 1’s own digital output and is the enthusiastic host of its post-race Twitter show.
For the past few years, he has been interviewing legends of F1 – including Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Mika Häkkinen and Damon Hill – as well as greats from other disciplines such as Indycar and sportscars.
Throughout the book each driver discusses with Buxton (in question and answer format) their personal moments of hardship and despair. Examples include Hill’s struggles with depression and Lauda’s determination to clear the names of the pilots involved in his airline’s tragic accident.
The idea behind the book is that, in opening up with their honesty, these motor racing heroes might be able to offer solace for those who are also facing despair. As Buxton says: “In racing, as in life, our greatest triumphs can be born from our greatest defeats.”