Book Review: Driven – the men who made Formula One by Kevin Eason

“Driven – The Men who made Formula One” by Kevin Eason is a reflection of the veteran motorsport journalist observations and history of the big movers and shakers in the history of modern F1 – Enzo Ferrari, Ron Dennis, Frank Williams, Luca di Montezemolo and Bernie Ecclestone. During his career Eason with The Times, he had direct access to Bernie and a swag of other major team principals including Eddie Jordan, Flavio Briatore, Christian Horner and the hopeful newcomer white knights like Paul Stoddard (Minardi) and Graeme Lowdon (Marussia).

At close to 400 pages, the book is a series of 20 chapters that explores the early Ferrari years and the pivotal commercial deals that shaped the direction and politics of F1 involving Scuderia Ferrari with Enzo and then di Montezemolo,

While the chapters follow a rough chronology of F1 team principals in the sport, Eason’s writing style merges current personalities and drivers like Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton to segue into key events in F1 history involving the major players like Ron Dennis.

Photo-wise, there are two 8 page sections of B&W and colour photos in the book.

In many ways this book is similar to Timothy Collings’ 2004 book “The Piranha Club – Power and Influence in Formula One” (in fact Eason does rely on this book and Tom Bower’s Eccelstone: No Angel biography) but with much more recent commercial developments in F1 since  – including the rise of Red Bull Racing.

In comparison, the book deals a lot with the exit of these F1 power brokers from the sport – Ron Dennis’ ejection from McLaren, Bernie’s sellout to CVC , Max Mosley’s forced exit due to the News of the World expose, Montezemolo’s board tussle with and ouster by Sergio Marchionne.

If you’re looking for a good summary of the machinations behind the history of most of the teams on the F1 grid circa 2016-2017, then this book is a good start.

Wow Factor/Money Shot: Insights from Brenda Vernor (Enzo Ferrari’s secretary)

Suitable for:  Fans interested in the commercial side of F1.