The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane

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Priestly also worked for McLaren during Spygate and the Lewis and Alonso season which is insane and I loved hearing an insider's experience of that crazy year. It's also nice to see how far both Lewis and Alonso have come, they are some of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen and finally seem to have mutual respect for each other now in 2023. I mean it's only been 16 years lmfaooooo. The anecdotes that involve Kimi Raikkonen and the crucial season with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were the highlights, but the rest of the book is also so enjoyable that you will finish it in a short amount of time with a smile on your face. Turns out that in fact Kimi, Ron Dennis, Alonso and Hamilton are the most interesting characters in this. However, I came to appreciate, and I guess hadn't really thought about it previously, how much pressure to perform is on the mechanics also in this high performance business. Plus, pit stops are terrifying from a mechanic's perspective. I also learned that there was quite a bit of camaraderie between the McLaren and Renault mechanics, even while the two teams were fighting for the championship in 2005. That was surprising. Other than that it was mostly twenty-somethings doing twenty-something things and enjoying the benefits of the unique environment they were in. Frankly, a lot of it is quite silly. Find out what really happens in the heat of a Formula One garage from McLaren's former Number One mechanic. Revealing the most outrageous secrets and fiercest rivalries, The Mechanic follows Priestley as he travels the world working in the high-octane atmosphere of the F1 pit lane. While the spotlight is most often on the superstar drivers, the mechanics are the guys who make every World Champion, and any mistakes can have critical consequences.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane eBook The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane eBook

If ever anyone left the race team after a significant length of service, either to retire or move on, it was our longstanding tradition to physically abuse that person after their last race. This would generally happen in a horrifically degrading manner, and often in front of the entire pitlane. Over the years I’ve seen people tied to the pit wall fence and covered with leftover food slops (which had been saved up during the week in preparation). People were doused in liquids that should never have been publicly seen outside of the human body. And I’ve watched, horrified, as one mechanic was set on fire before being hosed down with the enormous pitstop foam fire extinguisher.” rounding up (dammit, GR, are half-stars really that difficult???) But these hard-partying guys get 1 star for obnoxious behavior. (Except for Kimi, he gets a pass). With Kimi, though, there’s never been an ego, let alone an inflated one, and the celebrity lifestyle just wasn’t his way.With Kimi, though, there’s never been an ego, let alone an inflated one, and the celebrity lifestyle just wasn’t his way.”

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane Paperback

I got on the radio straight away. ‘Er, guys, I’ve just found something floating around in the car. It looks like a big gold ring.’ The principle is sound, as are the author’s credentials… [A] genuine attempt to reflect the day-to-day realities of a relentless life on the road. And it is relayed by someone who doesn’t feel duty-bound to toe the corporate line Motorsport Apparently the world of Formula 1 is the world of insane money which leads to exasperated hilarity. Solid state physics Quantum theory Chemical bonds SCIENCE Physics Condensed Matter Física do estado sólido Mecânica quânticaMarc Priestly was a mechanic at McLaren from 2000 to 2009, before he left the team to pursue a career in media, working for the BBC and Sky Sports among others and writing articles for magazines like Autosport and F1 Racing. I recently got into F1 due to the Netflix docu series and was instantly hooked. I have to admit I was quite judgemental of F1 before and thought the sport was over rated, the Netflix series does a great job of exposing new comers to the sport. There are lots of fun stories of the mechanics behaving badly, of particular interest is the story about filling Kimi’s gloves with blue dye and Kimi’s subsequent revenge. It shows that Kimi can be a warm and friendly guy and is up for a laugh. It is quite general so is not too technical which is positive for the casual F1 fan or those who are not mechanically minded. It casts McLaren in a new light showing that it is not entirely the ultra professional team they wish to portray and that at least the mechanics can have a laugh.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane EPUB The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane EPUB

And even the non-Kimi chapters were easy to read and entertaining, even if at times it felt like I was reading about a foreign world in a foreign language. After all, a Smart Car is my idea of an ideal vehicle, so I suppose that says everything about my racing car knowledge. It’s no surprise to me that after playing his part in securing Lewis Hamilton’s first World Title, Elvis has moved on to his next challenge, still surrounded by engineering excellence and cars but now in his role as a TV presenter, where his easy, relaxed style makes it feel like he’s putting his arm around the viewers’ shoulders and taking them on a walk behind the scenes of one of the biggest sports in the world. I look forward to watching him continue to push the boundaries in this field whilst inevitably looking for his next great life challenge. Then in 2008 McLaren finally won another championship, with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And that was quite the dramatic season as well. But I think at this point it has become clear that I was mostly here for the Kimi stories. And I have not been disappointed. In the high-octane atmosphere of the Formula One pit lane, the spotlight is most often on the superstar drivers. And yet, without the technical knowledge, competitive determination and outright obsession from his garage of mechanics, no driver could possibly hope to claim a spot on the podium. These are the guys who make every World Champion, and any mistakes can have critical consequences.

In the high octane atmosphere of the Formula One pit lane, the spotlight is most often on the superstar drivers. And yet, without the technical knowledge, competitive determination and outright obsession from his garage of mechanics, no driver could possibly hope to claim a spot on the podium. These are the guys who make every World Champion, and any mistakes can have critical consequences. Why would I care about any of that? I read something over a third of the book and and 2 starred it. 1 to show how awful the book was, and 2 because the writing was actually quite good, I suspect a ghostwriter but one isn't named. Obsahově nemám téměř co vytknout. Kniha mě bavila, dozvěděla jsem se něco nového, připomněla si, co už jsem věděla. Jednu hvězdičku jsem strhla pouze proto, že mi přišlo, jako by autor občas trochu zmateně přeskakoval z jedné události na druhou, ale nebylo to nic hrozného. The sweetest gift from mum and mitchy <3 5-stars because I had such a fun time reading this. The glitz glamour and chaos of 00s F1 is front centre in this autobiography, but it never felt like a brag, more like charming recollections from a different time. it also made me wonder who will write the defining autobiography of the 10s or the current era.