The most absorbing F1 read to date (Life at the Limit: Triumph & Tragedy in Formula One - Prof. Sid Watkins)

Member Name: BizzyB

Product:	Life at the Limit: Triumph & Tragedy in Formula One - Prof. Sid Watkins
Date:	28/11/00 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating insight into F1 and the modern history of safety and medical care in the sport

Disadvantages: None - I think even none F1 fans could enjoy these memoirs of a fascinating character

If you only buy one Formula One related book in your life I would have to recommend Life at the Limit by Professor Sid Watkins.

Professor Sid Watkins is the chief medical delegate for the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) who's sporting body oversees Formula One motor racing. This book charts Prof. Watkins' involvement in F1 starting in the 1970s when he was approached by Bernie Ecclestone, the then leader of the Constructors Association and team owner, to investigate safety and medical matters at races. His findings formed the basis of radical change in the practice of running motor racing culminating in the formation of the FIA Medical and Safety Boards over which he presides.

But this book is more than a mere procession through the why and wherefore of safety and medical practices in motor racing. Prof. Watkins' style of writing is very informal - you get the feeling you are talking to a friend over dinner rather than reading the memoirs of one of Britains most eminent neurosurgeons. Because of this easy style it makes what could be a complicated subject easy and enjoyable to read unlike many autobiographies which are tweaked and sanitised beyond recognition by professional co-writers.

Prof. Watkins is never one to mince his words and you come away with a wonderful insight into motor racing and its players over the last 25+ years. As a first hand witness Prof. Watkins relates some of the triumphs and tragedies that have occurred in Formula One. As the chief doctor and surgeon Prof. Watkins has been the attending officer to some of the most terrifying accidents in motor racing history. This book had me in tears in places as Prof. Watkins recalls such fatalities as those of Gilles Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna with such feeling. It is obvious he sees the drivers not only as his charges but his friends, almost family.

There are also moments of great laughter and happiness as he recalls the
characters he has met on the way. Accounts of practical jokes and paddock gossip relay the community feeling that surrounds this most glamorous and intriguing of sports. Prof. Watkins good humour stood him in good stead as he came up against opposition for his safety work - yes there was opposition, hard to imagine isn't it? Never a great player in paddock politics Prof. Watkins remembers the times known as the FOCA-FISA Wars when the official sporting body and Constructor's Association were at loggerheads over the running of the sport.

The book is interspersed with his thoughts on specific drivers and tracks - tracks he loves and tracks he fears. At the end of the book there are copies of the FIA safety study, how safety inspection forms developed and a more in-depth look at the physiology of racing drivers.

This book gives one of the most absorbing insights into Formula One from the standpoint of one of the most fascinating men in the pitlane. This book presents you with a picture of what Formula One entails in its entirety far better than any driver biography or F1 history book I have read. I have seen this book available at very reasonable prices for the paperback version - a must have stocking filler for motor racing fans.

Summary: