Inside the Mind of the Grand Prix Driver: The Psychology of the Fastest Men on Earth: Sex, Danger and Everything Else

Rating:
Summary: Don't be fooled by the cover
Review: This book can be summed up by the author's own words: From the introduction, "this is not a tidy book." And from the final chapter, "I had become concerned that the material was unbalanced because the drivers seemed to be speaking much more about disappointments than delight." Perhaps this is more a reflection of the driver's he chose to interview.
The cover on the other hand represents a very organized and creative image of seeing into a driver's mind (judging by the colors I can only assume that the driver is Michael Schumacher). The subtitle goes so far as to suggest that this is a book about "The Psychology of the Fastest Men on Earth: Sex, Danger and Everything Else." Don't judge a book by its cover!
When anybody mentions the Fastest Men on Earth, I think of Senna, Prost, Schumacher, and a long list of other winning drivers in the pinnacle of Motorsport. I do not immediately think of John Watson, Derek Warwick, Jonathan Palmer, Martin Donnelly, Perry McCarthy, or Mark Blundell; all drivers who could arguably be considered also-rans on the list of Formula 1 participants. To be fair, there are some substantial contributions by Niki Lauda, Eddie Irvine, and Johnny Herbert. But there are many more references to Senna, Prost, and Schumacher by other drivers than there are words by these great drivers themselves.
The only mention of sex comes in the question: is racing/qualifying better than sex? Perhaps a more interesting question would be how these drivers view their relationships with their wives or girlfriends in the context of their busy racing careers, and how these women have influenced their performance. But these aren't the sorts of personal insights we find in Hilton's book. Instead we discover how drivers deal with the accidents that took the edge off their self-confidence or ended their careers.
I was looking for the psychology of the greatest drivers of the last decade; a bit of motivation or mental preparation that I might use in my own racing exploits. What I found is a book of stories that will either motivate an injured racer back into the cockpit, or convince him to leave the sport for good. Perhaps I should not have based my expectations on the professional looking cover art and intriguing subtitle.

Rating:
Summary: A simply must-read!
Review: This is without doubt the most gripping, insightful and authoritative read about drivers in Formula One. Written around a series of intimate, unguarded and in-depth interviews with drivers it affords the reader a real insight into the experience of driving the world's most beautiful race cars. The chapter about accidents contains some of the most descriptive, articulate work, but one needs to read the rest of the book to get the most from it. Not since Jackie Stewart first began to articulate the reality of a driver's life has this subject been tackled in such depth or with such effect. Having followed Formula One passionately for many years this book took me to a new depth of understanding.