Book Review: Ferrari in F1

Review by Pete Vack

For some of us, interest in F1 falters after so many years; where we could once recite by rote the winners of the six or seven F1 races in the 1950s, by the 1990s it was hard even to recall and name the World Champions, much less who won what in what. But Peter Nygaard’s book makes it easy…and a pleasure…to remember names and the battles that are lost to us in the mists of time and indifference.

Anything by top notch F1 photographer Peter Nygaard is worth considering. In this case, Peter has included many images from his own Grand Prix Images, as he didn’t begin his F1 career until 1987. The photos are all from his own collection, but the photographers sadly are not credited…not even his own. While there are plenty of action shots, it was just as interesting to see the people, the pits, and the offs rather than wheel to wheel shots, and Nygaard is very good at finding the best blend.

The format is simple: select 2-4 images from each year of the F1 world championship beginning, of course, in 1950. Ferrari, is of course, the only manufacturer to have fielded race cars each of the now 75 years of F1, and is a fitting way to review each year.

Now, two to four images for each year does not sound like much, and it’s not. However, the result is over 400 images printed on 512 large format 230×300 mm pages. That is both an accomplishment and a shortcoming, but seems to be an intelligent compromise.

The text is brief, generally one page per each year, consisting of well researched and interesting historical anecdotes and observations. The only statistics consist of a box for ‘Season Standings’, with driver rankings in the World Championship, and Team Rankings after 1957. There is no listing of each F1 race in which a Ferrari participated as that would take another 500 pages!

Nygaard includes sections in the back of the book for Ferrari drivers who won World Championships, drivers who won F1 victories in Ferraris, the models that competed in each year. While it lacks an index or bibliography, Nygaard’s book is a beautiful reminder of Ferrari’s achievements. What we liked about it most is that it enables us to recall, or learn, about the more recent years of Ferrari’s F1 adventure. A useful and welcome addition to the Ferrari library.

More photos from the book:

https://www.daltonwatson.com/Ferrari-in-F1-p/ferrari-in-f1.htm

Hard cover
230mm x 300mm (portrait format)
512 pages
401 rare and unedited photographs
All Formula 1 seasons from 1950 to 2024
ISBN: 978-1-956309-39-3
First Published October 2024
$89