Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One
RRP £7.99
Mass Market Paperback, 258 pages
Reviews
(Rated 5 out of 5)
I bought this book, thinking that it would be a different view of the sport, and how right I was. It was a great read, although sometimes a bit too technical for a non medical person, and also contained a lot of statistics, but much of it was in appendix form, so you did not have to read it.
(Rated 3 out of 5)
I read Prof Sid's 2nd book first. Like that one, I read it at one sitting and then left it on the plane. The good professor is all that another reviewer has described: supremely respected, enormously experienced and responsible for saving the lives of many racing drivers [through scence-of-crash intervention or safety committee input]The trouble is, he's not a writer. His narrative lurches from cigars and malt whiskey with some neuromedic colleague to "intubating" some hapless F1 driver after a monumental crash - all described with the same retiring, self-effacing modesty which is evidently the Professor's principle character trait, for which he is so loved by the F1 circus.
Professor Sid Watkins has been and is still one of the leading personalities of F1 racing for 20 years or more. One day, with luck, a book which any F1 fan will keep and re-read again and again will be written by Prof Sid, with the help of a professional writer similarly steeped in motor racing. Until then, read his two books by all means but be prepared to feel very disappointed
(Rated 5 out of 5)
If you like your F1 and have a favourite driver then you'll probably be able to carry on supporting the driver for longer because of the work of this man. Not only has he been able to make F1 safer but he can write too. An interesting story well recounted. I can recommend it wholeheartedly.
(Rated 5 out of 5)
Viewing Grand Prix motor racing through the wonderfully perceptive eyes of Professor Watkins means that anyone interested in the sport should read this excellent account. Obviously respected, often revered by those with whom he works, he gives vivid and sometimes moving recollections spanning the many years of his involvement. Humour and pathos make regular appearances; his dry wit, an essential tool of his trade perhaps, serves to punctuate what is essentially a serious book. His incisive précis of drivers from the last three decades makes for compulsive reading, the character analyses are intriguing and revealing. Undoubtedly a pivotal character in the world of Formula One, the professor has been instrumental in saving many lives. However, he's also witnessed intimately the consequences of appalling accidents in which lives were lost. He is perhaps uniquely qualified to commentate on the sport, his dedication and professionalism making him a hero in this modern amphitheatre which now embraces the globe. Superbly readable. Once is not enough.
(Rated 4 out of 5)
In this book you can review almost all incidents from 1978 up to 1997 getting the medical point of view from Prof. Sid Watkins. Specialls details about Senna and Villeneuve good reading