Lots of pretty pictures and stats
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Hmm... not bad, but could do better. This is not "in depth". It covers the season in about as much depth as you get from a good national newspaper, but Autosport this isn't. While there is a revealing profile of Kimi Raikkonnen, written by a fellow Finn, and the season's main stories are briefly outlined, no article weighs in at much over 1500 words so there really isn't the space to properly get into the minutiae of the tremendous events of the 2007 Formula One World Championship. For example, Mark Hughes (one of the best, most insightful and gifted communicators of F1 technology) has barely 1000 words in which to discuss the history of technology transfer (be it inspiration, interpretation or theft) from over 100 years of Grand Prix racing. Not much. Gone are the days of seriously meaty articles in Autocourse (although, to be fair, this has been the case for a few years now), and any real discussion of technical issues is absent. The races are handled competantly, and the plethora of statistics and digrams available are impressive. There are also some interesting snippets included as sidebar trivia, which help to illustrate the season's flow, but some have a distinctly Phil Space aspect to them. The review has also suffered with the season's drama dragging on beyond the publishing date, and some of the speculation surrounding Alonso is already well out of date.
However, the photography is stunning. The Crash Media website has been one of the best places to get up close and personal shots of this season's action, and these have been transferred through into this annual. All the major events are there, and most of the racing shots are up there among the best I have seen all year. Unfortunaely, some have been pushed beyond their resolution, and publishing crassly pixellated photos is a bit shoddy in a book which presents itself as a glossy, pictorial, coffee-table quality review. (Oh, and the Merecedes DTM car shot, in the Touring Cars review, is utterly inexcusable and the editor responsible for its inclusion should be strapped to the front of Kubica's car at the next Canadian GP.)
This book does present a reasonably informative review, from a fairly neutral standpoint, without being afraid to criticise where justified. For its photography alone I would have given it five stars, but it loses one because of the skimpy articles and the unprofessional pixellaion issues. Having said all that, it still knocks the socks off all the other glossy picture books out there.
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Autocourse 2007: Worth the Money!
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Autocourse 2007 is an in-depth yearbook analysing the 2007 season. The book contains the story of Lewis Hamilton's rise to fame, Fernando Alonso's fall out with McLaren, The Sy Scandal and Kimi Raikkonens road to the world championship, just to name but a few story's. It also contains team by team analysis, driver by driver reports and Race by Race facts, statistics and photos. With a 10-12 page review on each race it is the most detailed Formula 1 review out there. Autocourse also breifly reviws the A1 GP season, The Karting season, Nascar and many more
Here is my lowdown on which review to by:
For a cheap option with race by race reaction and opinions on the season buy The Formula One yearbook 2007-2008.
For the official story of the season with views from the people who matter buy The Official Formula 1 season Review 2007 book.
For the best reaction, race coverage, statistics and photography buy this as nothing can beat it.
Or if you dont like reading and just want clips buy The Formula 1 2007 DVD.
This book is worth 5 stars and my advise would be to get it right now!
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Autocourse - Still the best.
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There are dozens of motorsport books published at the end of the year but Autocourse still outshines them all.
The photography is first class and the description and detail of all the Formula 1 races is excellent. All the other major motorsport categories are included and additionally the A1 GP class is now included.
It is THE must have motorsport annual.
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Quality every year
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Autocourse consistently provides the most informative, detailed and colourful review of the Grand Prix season and this latest edition should be added to the collection of every F1 entusiast. Possibly the first item that everyone turns to is the editors choice of the top-10 drivers of the season. This is sometimes suprising and controversial but is certainly a starting point for debate. The technical review includes superb illustrations and a detailed analysis of each teams performance, while the race reports are the final word on each Grand Prix. Further articles and a review of the US scene as well as national championships makes this an essential purchase. You may feel you have read and seen everything you need during the 1999 season but Autocourse will make you realise otherwise. Buy this book, it's an investment you will return to again and again.
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The best F1 annual
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I haven't read this yet but I have read (several times over) every other Autocourse from 1978 to 1998. So I know that this will be just as good as the rest. The best articles, photos (BW & Col), Stats, etc. A collectors piece if ever there was one.
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