F1 from the inside (F1 Racing)

Member Name: GroundZero

Product:	F1 Racing
Date:	26/02/01 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High overall quality, good behind the scenes articles

Disadvantages: Too expensive, often the news stories are out of date

A few years ago, it seemed that every time you went to the newsagent there was another Formula One magazine on the shelves, all attempting to cash in on the growing popularity of the sport. The best of these by far is F1 Racing.

From the same company that publishes Autosport, F1 Racing concentrates solely on motorsport’s premier category. Where Autosport covers the full spectrum of motorsport, F1 Racing is only concerned with the goings-on of Schumacher, Hakkinen et al.

As a result, the magazine contains a number of articles that analyse the sport to a greater degree than is possible with a wider outlook. Peter Windsor, who also writes for the Sunday Times, has a talent for describing the true stories behind the headlines, and, as a former team manager at Williams, he knows the sport inside out. His articles are always a highlight. For someone like me, who devours any motorsport magazine available, it is nice to actually learn something new from Windsor's articles. Some of the sport’s most respected journalists write regularly for the magazine, and the quality is always of a very high standard.

F1 Racing tends to focus on the people and the personalities of the sport, whereas other magazines concentrate on the facts of the races, and the technical aspects of the sport. A regular feature is articles that take a look at an F1 driver’s life away from the track. Driver interviews are commonplace, one of the best being a combined interview with the Schumacher brothers, which I have not seen anywhere else. The retrospective articles are always very good, and particularly well-researched. A common feature is articles on drivers from the past, focussing on their careers and what they have subsequently gone on to do.

One of the biggest problems with F1 Racing is the fact that it is published monthly. This tends to mean that the news stories are out of date by the time the magazine hits the shelves, due in n
o small part to the fast changing world that is Formula 1. For this reason it is best to take with a pinch of salt some of the news stories that are printed. For example, when F1’s silly season starts, with rumours of drivers on the move, you can bet that the stories printed as fact in F1 Racing may already have been proved to be wrong.

I would have to say that F1 Racing is a touch expensive, especially compared to the more voluminous Autosport, with nowhere near as much content as some of its competitors. The quality of the writing, and the exceptional standard of photography go some way to making up for this however.

Summary: