Customer Reviews

Forza Minardi!: The Inside Story of the Little Team Which Took on the Giants of F1

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I had high hopes for Simon Vigar's "Forza Minardi," and although extremely well researched it ultimately disappoints.

The interviews are interesting, but at least half the book is devoted to the last five years of the team when it was owned by Paul Stoddart. As a result, that only leaves the other half to cover the 1985 to 2000 period and the early years in Formula Two! Also for a book at this price point I expected higher production values. Produced in India, the book design, layout, and overall printing quality is pretty poor.

Unless you are a really hardcore Minardi fan, I'd suggest passing on Vigar's attempt to sum up the racing team's origins & 20-year constructor history in F1.

If you ever wondered what "Star Wars" would be like through the eyes of the storm trooper who gets shot in one of those epic battle scenes and what "Ben Hur" would have been like if another greased up gladiator had been the main protagonist, then maybe you are the person with enough eye for detail for this book.

Forza Minardi is a meticulously researched history of Formula 1's perennial backmarkers Minardi, a team which kept on challenging the great and mighty at the pinnacle of motor sport for more than 20 years. In all those years, that's 346 Grand Prixs, the team did neither take a single victory nor ever finish on the podium. In short, it is the history of the also-rans, the cars TV commentators would mix up with the leaders rather than really speak about them.

Still, there is a story to tell, a story that some may find much more interesting than the monotonous PR-talk that comes as standard in post race interviews nowadays. There is much to be said about Minardi, but bland they were not.

Simon Vigar's book takes you through 20 years of Formula 1 history, from the turbo days until the days of stand off between the FIA and manufacturers. The book is full with amusing anecdotes such as soft natured team founder Gian Carlo Minardi admitting to "running after Ron Dennis with a hammer".

This book is highly recommended to all of those who had a soft spot for the Minardi Team when it was still in F1, but also to the motor sport fan who would love a different take on motor racing. Your favourite story, told in a different way.