The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One | Steve Matchett

The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One | Steve Matchett | How insightful

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The Mechanic's Tal...

	The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One Steve Matchett Orion Publishing, 2000 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In his new book, Formula One Grand Prix mechanic Steve Matchett offers the reader an inside look at his life as a pit crew mechanic, from his beginnings as a young apprentice through his time at Ferrari and BMW, to his later success with Benetton. There are eyewitness accounts of the great drivers, including Michael Schumacher, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna. He also talks about key Benetton personalities, revealing how the team was transformed into a strong competitive organization, winning three World Championships. In this fast-moving account, the high-pressure world of Formula One leaps off the page.

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A very worthy read for the F1 buff

I really enjoyed this book.

I've read a lot of books on F1, and as Matchett mentions in his book, most center around the drivers and the race action. There's very little very good material that allows one to explore what happens with the rest of the team, especially, the mechanics, those men taking care of the car.

I found this book to be an excellent read. Matchett is a rounded individual and quite a well developed personality. These qualities empowered him to write with a very insightful point of view. With a point of view that successfully reaches the heart and minds of non-technical readers.

I highly recommend this book for all those with a deep interest in the sport. I'll no longer be looking in the pit garage at the mechanics and the ongoing work around a pitstop in the same way. Much respect is due to the mechanics and the hard work they put into a successful F1 team.

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How insightful

I flew through this book. I couldnt get enough. The perfect balance between technical descriptions and storyline kept me glued to the book. If you have a remote interest in racing of any kind this is a must read.

Adds depth to his commentaries

My appreciation for his comments during F1 racing on SpeedTV has expanded. His attention to detail, his race team experience and his humility as reveiled in this little book makes him much more than a talking head.
I recommend the book to those who watch auto racing and those who are starting their adult life, but don't have a plan.

An entertaining F1 read

Finally, a book about life in F1 that looks at the mechanics and operations side of this business. Enjoyable story telling, without the reader being led down overly technical back alleys of the sport. Having enjoyed Steve's commentary for years on SpeedTV, I'm hoping for a sequel to this work that might cover the next 10 years of Steve's career from 1997 to the present.

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Bit of a disappointment

The title of this book should have been, "I passed gas and there lay a book" as this book slowly trudges along as Steve talks about his progression into F1. I've followed F1 since '86 watched all the races, read many a magazine and many books from the sports greats, and this book was by far the worst. Several chapters are used to talk about how he got a book deal, and how he was interviewed as a mechanic by British radio which came across as rather boring. I also found it aggravating reading Steve talk about the do's and don'ts of the sports rules as he comes across as a nerdy engineer. His insight on the Benetton team was largely a biased 'we were right, they are wrong' scenario. I couldn't wait to finish the book so I could toss it aside and ended up skipping many of the last pages.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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