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Inside the Mind of the Grand Prix Driver: Psychology of the Fastest Men on Earth: Sex, Danger and Everything Else | 
 enlarge | Author: Christopher Hilton
Publisher: Haynes Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy Used: $5.48
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1754011
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 5.9 x 1
ISBN: 1859608337
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.72
EAN: 9781859608333
ASIN: 1859608337
Publication Date: December 17, 2001
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Product Description
In consultation with a sports psychologist, top Formula 1 journalist Christopher Hilton conducts a series of probing interviews with F1 drivers past and present, team managers, doctors, safety specialists, wives and girlfriends to discover what makes these extraordinary sportsmen tick. Where does the motivation originate? Is the high pay part of the reward system or would racers actually drive for nothing? Can the qualities needed to make it to the top be learned? And what were the dynamics between arch rivals like Schumacher and Hill, and Prost and Senna?
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| Customer Reviews:
 Don't be fooled by the cover July 7, 2004
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
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.
 A simply must-read! November 26, 2002
12 out of 18 found this review helpful
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.
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