FORMULA ONE DOWN UNDER: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX HISTORY

(Gelding Street Press)

ISBN 978 1 9227853 05 Reviewer’s own copy

Including this year’s rather chaotic race, 37 Australian GPs have been held as part of the F1 world championship, although a number of races using that title were run beforehand, the first of which was won by an Austin Seven back in 1928!

This new book reviews each of the Australian championship rounds, up to the 2022 race. The first 11 were held at the Adelaide street circuit before switching to Melbourne’s Albert Park. In the process, the race has gone from being the final round to one of the season’s opening races. Each race gets about seven pages of text plus plenty of colour photos and a results page.

What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that, as well as giving a decent summary of each race, the book includes plenty of information on changes in F1 regulations, new and departing teams and drivers and so forth; it almost acts as a mini history of the sport as well as the individual races covered. (Incidentally, this is the second new book I’ve read recently that says Graham and Damon Hill are the only father and son both to have been world champions. They were the first certainly, but have we already forgotten the Rosbergs – Keke in 1982 and Nico in 2016?).

Anyway, a look at who has been part of the sport in the last 37 years is very instructive. Some drivers like Hamilton, Raikkonen and particularly Alonso spent many years at the top. But who now remembers Piercarlo Ghinzani, Gaston Mazzacone or Jerome d’Ambrosio? Similarly with chassis manufacturers – Ferrari, McLaren and Williams are among the ‘stayers’ but other marques such as Virgin, Larrousse and Caterham proved more fleeting,

An interesting and enjoyable read, at a very reasonable price for a 306 page hardback that’s a good quality production.

$44.99 | Review by Mark Holman