Book Review: Formula 1 1950-today by Rainer Schlegelmilch and Hartmut Lehbrink
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Positives
Negatives
This excellent Schlegelmilch and Lebhrink photobook published in 2005 probably sits in between two other Schlegelmilch books Fascination Formula One and 50 Years of Formula One. Yes, it does include several repeat photos from his other titles but the layout and photo mosaics in this book are still immensely enjoyable in their own right. Similar […]
This excellent Schlegelmilch and Lebhrink photobook published in 2005 probably sits in between two other Schlegelmilch books Fascination Formula One and 50 Years of Formula One. Yes, it does include several repeat photos from his other titles but the layout and photo mosaics in this book are still immensely enjoyable in their own right.
Similar to Fascination Formula One, the book is made of themed sections. The first section, are photo selections from each of the grand prix seasons from 1950 up to 2003. Each season is spread over 2 pages with large B&W and colour race images. The early grand prix photos are from the Cahier archive.
The 2nd section covers driver portraits with the world champions, then other drivers of each decade and season.
The 3rd section covers helmets – famous drivers (Schumacher, Senna, Mansell, Fittipaldi, etc.) and helmets from drivers of various nationalities (Great Britain and Germany).
The next section is ‘Technology and Design” and is a fantastic compilation of each team and under the cover engine and chassis design. This is my favourite section and the inclusion of engine photos from cars of F1’s small privateer teams – Minardi, Simtek, Tecno, Wolff, Dallara, etc. are great to study.
Admittedly, I find the last section ‘Bosses, Women & VIPs” to be fairly trivial but if you like celebrity and WAG aspect of F1 – there are some interesting pictures here too.
Like most Schlegelmilch photo albums, this is a heavy and thick hardcover. As I mentioned earlier, it supplements Fascination Formula One by continuing up to the 2003 season. However, if you’re new to F1 photo books and Schlegelmilch photography, you’ll be better off buying the more recent and massive compilation book “50 Years of Formula One” instead. However, if you spy this in the second hand bargain bins for cheap, you won’t be disappointed.
Wow Factor/Money Shot: I love the full car aerial photos and the mosaics of the Alfa Romeo (pg 284-285), Williams (pg 270-271) and Ligier (pg 314)
Suitable for: early 2000 F1 fans
Early Silver Arrows
Remember Jaguar?
Remember this Ferrari champion?
Remember Toyota’s F1 foray?
