Customer Reviews

Gerhard Berger: The Human Face of Formula 1

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First published in 1993, the 2nd edition of this book has been updated to take into account the tumultous 1994 Formula One season. During 1994, not only did Berger end the longest losing streak in Ferrari's illustrous formula one history with a fine lights to flag victory at Hockenheim, but also endured the deaths of close friend Ayrton Senna and compatriot Roland Ratzenberger, both during the San Marino GP weekend. Fellow Austrian Karl Wendlinger, whose father Berger raced against, was seriously injured 2 weeks later at Monaco.

One could question the merits of writing a biography of a man who "only" won 9 GPs (by the end of 1994 - of course Berger went on to take another win for Benetton in 1997, his final F1 season), and who in the scheme of things was only a bit player in the sport compared to Prost, Piquet, Senna, and Mansell. But this attitude belies the fact that Berger does indeed have interesting tales to tell. Teammate to both Mansell and Senna, racing against Piquet and Prost, Berger competed against the best of his era. He is widely regarded as being the man who taught Senna to laugh. Although shaded (substanially) by the great Brazilian on track, off track the two were best friends, playing numerous pranks on one another, many of which are related in the book. The pranks were not just confined to his F1 days, in fact it appears that he was somewhat wilder in his junior formulae days, particularly in cohorts with Tommy Byrne.

"The Human Face of Formula One" covers Berger's whole motorsport career up to the end of 1994. Not only are his initial forays into the sport with Ford Escorts and Alfa-Suds covered, but also the days of European F3 and his races with the BMW Schnitzer team. Hilton interviewed both Charley Lamm, team manager of Schnitzer, and Roberto Ravaglia who shed some insights into Berger the racer, and Berger the man. Mark Blundell and Jean Alesi are others Hilton interviewed for perspectives into Berger.

This isn't the best of author Christopher Hilton's works, but by no means is it the worst. Hilton pumped out quite a few of these driver biographies in the late 1990's, some of which were pretty much fluff pieces to earn the author a bit of extra dosh. However, "The Human Face of Formula One" is superior to those efforts. Written in Hilton's usual casual, almost conversational style, the book is a relatively quick read for its 270 odd pages. There is an insert of black and white photography, most of which cover Berger's F1 career, but there are some taken during his BMW touring car days.

One thing I don't like about these modern driver biographies is that often they are written while the subject is still active in the sport, thus rendering it out of date pretty quickly. This book could do with a further update, now that Berger has finished his F1 driving career, and his BMW consultant role with Williams.

Christopher Hilton writes with insight and humor about one of Formula 1's most charismatic characters.

Mr. Hilton, once again, wrote a marvellous book, with great insight, feeling and facts, about a great driver. But he made one mistake: even with 9 Grand Prix victories to his credit, Berger never had the caliber to be a World Champion, never, and Mr. Hilton says that only details were missing for Berger accomplish that. Otherwise,a fantastic book!

Why on Earth would someone want to read about a F-q driver who clearly never was menat to be a Champion, who blew every opportunity he always had driving the best F-1 cars, and who entered F-1 only due to his great contacts with BMW ? I don't know. Anyway, this is good reading for fans only, because you have an idea of the setup of the categories of the time (F-3, F-2) and the drivers who competed in them.