Reviews of the best F1 gear
Enhance the F1 experience with the latest must-have products
NORMAN CONQUEST Author Vic Norman Price £45 porterpress.co.uk
Motor racing attracts some fascinating characters with eclectic connections. This illustrated memoir chronicles stunt pilot and sometime Ferrari dealer Vic Norman’s colourful life, which included waterskiing as a youth with the likes of Stirling Moss and Donald Campbell. Norman’s father, “an East End boy made good”, made a fortune manufacturing US jukeboxes under licence in the 1950s. The book covers Vic’s time in the RAF and the Red Arrows through to collecting and preparing racing cars, historic F1 racing, and latterly a business providing aerial stunt displays and wing walking.
It’s a life that’s anything but dull. Norman was introduced to the Le Mans 24 Hours by – who else? – Alain de Cadenet, and he sold Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason a Ferrari 250 GTO. He also prepared a Ferrari 512BB/LM for and raced with Pink Floyd manager Steve O’rourke. Norman owned and raced a number of classic F1 cars including an exfangio Maserati 250F and the P25 in which Jo Bonnier claimed BRM’S first world championship victory in 1959.
F1 CLASH Price Free apps.apple.com/play.google.com
The popular ‘freemium’ mobile game F1 Manager has been updated and renamed F1 Clash for the new season. This latest iteration features all the teams and drivers competing in 2021 along with the latest liveries, and adds 48 new car components along with improved 3D graphics and a revised user interface.
As before, the game take the form of a live strategic battle between equally matched players paired at random. Winning races earns rewards which can be put towards buying new drivers and components, or upgrading your existing ones. While the game is free to play, loot crates can be unlocked with real money, expediting progression through the levels.
Existing players who participated in the 2020 season are able to spend their constructors’ championship points on new drivers and components at the in-game store.
FORMULA 1 PORTRAITS – THE SIXTIES Author Gianni Cancellieri Price €71.25 giorgionadaeditore.it
Another sumptuously produced hardback by Italian publisher Giorgio Nada, this is the first of a series which will offer rare and evocative portraits of Formula 1 drivers from each decade. Some of the pictures within are previously unpublished and many are truly remarkable. Author Gianni Cancellieri is a doyen of Italian motorsport journalism and his words are presented both in the original Italian and in English translation.
The majority of the book is given over to the leading drivers of the day, including Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart, and features action shots as well as candid portraiture which captures the atmosphere of the time. A smaller section entitled ‘The supporting cast’ features other interesting characters from the time, including Chris Bristow, Piers Courage, Willy Mairesse, Johnny Servoz-gavin and Lance Reventlow.
The standard edition of the book is limited to 1900 copies, and there’s a collectors’ edition of 99 copies signed and numbered by the author and presented in a slipcase.
MCLAREN TUMI CAPSULE LUGGAGE Price £90- £840 mclarenstore.com & uk.tumi.com/mclaren-europe/
As travel restrictions ease ,is your old carry-on luggage giving you the carry-on? Mclaren partner TUMI has revealed a collection of automotive and racing-inspired luggage featuring high-tech materials and the distinctive Mclaren papaya orange colouring.
The centrepiece is the Aero International Expandable 4-Wheel Carry-on, a hardshell case crafted in a mixture of materials including Tegris thermoplastic, carbonfibre accents and moulded fabric. Like the Velocity Backpack it also features a USB port. The Trace Expandable Organiser co-ordinates with the Aero suitcase’s design and features a pair of straps which enable it to slide over the case’s handle when extended. The entry-level item in the range is the Orbit Small Packing Cube, a zip-top bag which weighs just 114g and is formed in ballastic nylon.