The Mechanic's Tale

If you are looking for a blow-by-blow account of a F1 season, you would be better served by Matchett's "Life in the Fast Lane" an inside account of Benneton's crazy 1994 season. If you want to learn more about F1 technology, then try "The Chariot Makers."However, if you want a very human and personal account of one man's journey from being a road car mechanic to mechanic for a Formula 1 world champion in a half decade, this is the book for you. Matchett describes his cautious entry to the sport, the great Benneton personalities he meets (most of whom have now gone on to senior positions all over the sport), the insane hours, and the holiday antics in the off-season. The book is peppered with Matchett's insight about the workings of Formula 1. Interestingly, he strongly disagrees with the Benneton's sacking of Schumacher's teamates every year and believes stability in the 2nd driver position would have improved the team. Ironic that Ferrari has used that exact strategy: Schumacher has had 3 teamates in the last 11 seasons...A must read for anyone whose interest in Formula 1 goes beyond glossy driver biographies and flashy magazines.

This is my first kindle ebook purchase and I have to say I enjoyed the book to a great extent.Steve definitely knows how to write and convey his thoughts (especially his personal thoughts) in an informative and open-minded way. I was a little supprised on how much a formula one mechanic actually makes, but consider the year he had worked in the industry and inflations, etc., I guess it's a fair amount given the criteria. One thing I would've like to see was the different countries and cities Steve had travelled with the team. But the fact that during a typical race weekend, the team really doesn't have any time to waste other than working on the car. However, a world tour of different cities and culturals would be nice. As I share some of the same feeling about working and life in general with the author.Overall,I enjoyed the book and looking forward to read some of other works from the author.

Well written and captivating. I could not put the book down. If you want to know Formula 1 as it truly is, then you must read this book, which is full of anecdotes and funny as well. Steve Matchett opens a window into a world that we would otherwise never really suspect. Behind the glamour of F1 are the people who work insane work schedule to make it happen. The mechanics are the very core of this elite racing industry, yet we hardly ever hear from them so this book is a little gem in its own right.He does write about the team managers, technical chief director, the drivers etc...but always from his own personal experience, which makes this book truly special. There are stories about Patrese, Piquet, Mansell, Schumacher, Stepney, Briatore and many others. I am still laughing at Martin Brundle's comments about the car's "speedboatiness" and "stage-coachy" quality!If Mr. Matchett decides to write another book, I will put it on my To Read list without any hesitation.

Though it deals with Formula 1 racing, any racing fan would find this interesting as it talks of auto racing through the eyes of the mechanics who put the car together for a race (and after an accident) and their constant struggle to keep it on the road and competitive. Most F1 fans will recognize Steve Machett as the commentator on NBCsports network (and formerly of SPEED ) who covers the tires and technology of the F1 cars. But prior to his stint on TV as a race commentator, he was a race mechanic for Benneton's Formula 1 race team and knew Schumacher as an up-and-comer. This inside look is a welcome addition to racing literature. I have not read his earlier book, or anything else he has written, but intend to at my earliest convenience.Incidentally, that cover photograph is of a mechanic caught in a refueling pit stop fire in an F1 race before they banned refueling in F1.

I really enjoyed this book.I've read a lot of books on F1, and as Matchett mentions in his book, most center around the drivers and the race action. There's very little very good material that allows one to explore what happens with the rest of the team, especially, the mechanics, those men taking care of the car.I found this book to be an excellent read. Matchett is a rounded individual and quite a well developed personality. These qualities empowered him to write with a very insightful point of view. With a point of view that successfully reaches the heart and minds of non-technical readers.I highly recommend this book for all those with a deep interest in the sport. I'll no longer be looking in the pit garage at the mechanics and the ongoing work around a pitstop in the same way. Much respect is due to the mechanics and the hard work they put into a successful F1 team.

Methinks that the title of this book should instead be "I Rode The Coattails", as he just happened to be lucky enough to work on the same overall team as Michael Schumacher...and wrote a book to cash in on that story.Beyond that, it is a fascinating story, a really good glimpse into what it's like to actually work on a Formula 1 team, albeit a team from twenty years ago, a story bordering on irrelevancy. Beyond that, the book takes the occasional turn into "Creative Non-fiction Writing 101", as he attempts to add pretty filler to a story that could perhaps use a bit more detail as to what went on during a day-to-day, season-to-season basis.Summary: I like to complain no matter what the story content is, so buy the book anyway and read it, there's really very little out there which gives such an interesting view into the world of Formula 1, even though like last-season's race cars, this story is pretty much a historical glimpse into a racing world which has changed...for the worse...and has gotten boring to look at.

La edición es un poco antigua.

Overall this is a good read that I mostly enjoyed. The author's history of working at car garages and moving into F1 was fun to read, and how Benetton operated as a team was really interesting, the way cars were built, how drivers were selected (and let go) and so on.However, bear in mind this book is now over 20 years old and at times, Steve Matchett launches in to page after page of his thoughts about what the future holds for F1 and of course, sometimes he got it right and sometimes he was wildly off the mark. But either way, reading someones arguments for and against the state of F1 as it was 20 years ago got a bit tedious.I would say this is less a book with stories, gossip and insider knowledge of F1 and more like "here's my life and I was part of an F1 team for a few years". For example, the cover shows the famous picture of a pit-lane mechanic on fire during Jos Verstappen's pit-stop. It's an iconic picture and coupled with the title "The Mechanic's Tale" would lead you to think that we're going to get all the juicy detail of life in a leading F1 team. But firstly, this is not a picture of Steve Matchett so isn't directly related to the author and secondly, the Verstappen incident is dispensed with in less than a paragraph, something like "Jos Verstappen came in to the pits, the fuel spilled, there was a big fire, I rolled around a bit, we were all ok". Honestly, that was just about it, little more than that! The picture is more exciting than the words about it.So overall, I quite enjoyed it but found myself skipping over many pages when Steve rambled on about the future of F1 and what needs to change because it's simply 20 years out of date.

This is an interesting book starting with his apprenticeship with Ferrari and BMW dealerships to talking about how he got into F1.The book is very much a personal journey of what it is like to be in F1 from a mechanic's perspective. It contains some interesting stories and is very much an autobiography of a mechanical rather than a technical manual. It covers the highs and lows of the role so is not a rose tinted view.It takes the form of a year by year account. Each year is not a personal review or blow by blow account of every race. Instead, it is an overview of each season covering the important events and behind the scenes acounts. It is not too technical so it is easy to read.An enjoyable journey and to be recommended for anyone interested in F1.

Was looking forward to reading this book as I am a big F1 fan, but to be honest, its was nothing more than OK.Quite simply there was not enough F1 in it.Whilst the journey to his being a F1 mechanic was interesting, too often it was a bit waffley and meandering. I highlight his section on getting his first F1 job interview as an example of this. When we actually get into the F1 content, there is simply not enough on his actual work as a mechanic. I have not read his other book but I hope that this is where he has put that content.A lot of what i read is rather good, liked his views on the selection of drivers by management, and their relative pro's and con's. However he needed to support his opinions in greater detail with better quality evidence that supported his views.Overall it was a decent read, but I wanted more depth, more content and it to be more interesting.

This popped up as a recommendation and as I was about to head off for a week in the sun and as I love F1 I thought I'd give it a go. It starts off well and the author talks about his early years before making the break into F1 with pace and interest.Initially he covers the shock of working in F1 well, but as a year by year account of his career, the books seems to loose focus and it feels like the author got bored of writing about F1. Indeed, from about halfway through it appears he had gotten bored of F1 when he was working within it, but he stuck it out to win the constructors.He clearer had ambitions to be a serious writer and he punctuates his F1 anecdotes with stories about holidays and his personal life. Sadly these come across as an attempt to showcase his writing ability rather than to entertain as the stories are incongruous to the book and not very interesting. I skim read quite a lot of these parts as they were wordy and dull.He then skims through the 94 and 95 seasons, states cars should be remotely driven and built as a feat of engineering and scoffs as the FIA wanting F1 to be a drivers championship. Hardly what any true F1 fan thinks. He then seems to get bored with the book, moans about his life in F1 before the book ends with no real story or closing point.The fact that I know more about his house in France, his publisher and his first book than any of the technical aspects of the F1 world championship winning car says it all about this book.In the end, starts well, lost its way, became boring then stops. I wouldn't recommend it.