The book covers the post-war rebirth of top-level motor racing and focuses in detail from 1947 through to 1972, after which non-championship races became ever scarcer. - Motor Sport. There have been enough books published on Formula One history and statistics to more than fill the average bookcase, but this one is different. Subtitled: "A reassessment of driver ability based on analysis of all F1 and equivalent peace results since 1947", rather then just dealing solely with World Championship races, author Brian Harvey's exhaustive survey also includes almost 400 races of what he considers "Championship quality" that have been previously ignored. Since 1984, Formula One has been a "closed shop", confined to those races holding World Championship status. Even before that, non-World Championship F1 races were few and far between after 1972. But the races which the author rates as of equivalent F1 status; with a quality of entry equal to, or in some cases surpassing, those of the official World Championship series, began just after WW2, several years prior to the WC's inauguration at Silverstone in 1950. Each race, including World Championship events, is described, rated and the first three finishers listed to form a unique collection of reportage - some 700 F1 events prior to 1984, after which the individual races (solely World Championship events, as has been mentioned) have been so comprehensively documented elsewhere as to be superfluous to this unique volume. Nonetheless, no stone is left unturned and towards the end of the book, the lengthy conclusions drawn from this vast wealth of research are based on results to the end of 2016. The comprehensive text in this hefty 350 page tome is illustrated by just two blocks of photographs, often fairly small, but as many of them depict non-Championship races, there are several that have rarely, if ever, been published elsewhere. While not perhaps ideal for bedside reading, as well as breaking are ground in driver assessment, this book forms a most informative source of reference, particularly for the F1 enthusiast wishing to examine an area of considerably broader scope that the already well documented World Championship scene. - Speedscene. This book, sub-titled "A reassessment of driver ability based on an analysis of all F1 and equivalent race results since 1947" takes an alternative view of Formula One since the beginning of the World Championship. The author makes the point in his preface that "The term Formula One was coined to describe the cars - not the race - so any race between them was, unarguably, a Formula One race. The term World Championship describes the race - not the cars - which was not always for Formula One." Perhaps, in order to publish a successful book on Formula One, especially since the inception of the Worls Championship, an author needs to find a new angle otherwise it will, simply, be more of the same; Brian Harvey seems to have managed this by considering races from 1947, rather than 1950, and also taking in to account all the many races that did not count towards the World Championship. Having devoted some 300 pages to the race descriptions and results, the book goes on to discuss other factors that the author considers should be taken into consideration, including what he describes as "winning positions that got away" or "Likely-Win-Lost" (LWL). What is the result of all this research? Well, it is an order of merit, the "real score"taking all factors into account. The outcome, well you will have to buy the book to find out! For your money you get a well produced, large and quite heavy book that details all the F1 races over four decades with the non-championship reports being the most valuable, the rest being readily available elsewhere, finishing with a different evaluation of an order of merit for all the drivers involved. The book adds over fifty new names to the F1 winners record including one with 19 wins. In concludes with a bibliography and a proper index. Formula One completists will surely want a copy but is will appeal to others with an interest in non-championship events of those who want a different view of the World Championship. - VSCC Bulletin. Talk about modern Formula 1 and records focusses on the races - how many races a driver has competed in, how many pole positions a driver has, how many wins. But this relentless focus on statistics necessarily favours the modern drivers - there are over 20 Grands Prix a year in which to accumulate your statistics, whereas the Formula 1 World Championship of 1955, for example, only featured seven. How can they possibly ever accumulate the same totals, especially when the points awarded have suffered a severe bout of inflation, with 20 now being awarded for a win compares to nine, and points down to 10th compared to 6th? But is you take a closer look at the 1955 season, for example, there may have only been seven World Championship Grands Prix, but there were actually 24 Grands Prix that year, as there were 17 non-championship races, races which in some cases were of greater stature than the Grands Epreuve, For example, Stirling Moss, who competed in six Grands Epreuve, also competed in six non-championship races, doubling the number of races that he actually competed in. If all F1 Grands Prix were considered, how would that affect the statistics? That is where this book comes in. It aims to consider all F1 races and their equivalents, and assigns them a rank of importance. Having done so, it then goes through year by year all of the races is is considering, giving a short results and description of all the major races, and a summation for each year. As you read through the book you get a feel for the authors preferences, but that is not a bad thing - the descriptions are accurate, and interesting conclusions are drawn. There are also two interesting photo sections, which show how F1 design changed over time, and covers drivers not normally seen. The book is an antidote to the endless stream of F1 statistic/results books which only ever cover the world championship races. - www.silhouet.com. Harvey has effectively re-written the way the F1 records its stats, to allow a like-for-like comparison of drivers from different eras. Official Formula One records only cover world championship results, thus ignoring nearly 400 other races of championship quality. This has now been addressed by the author, who brings them in from the cold! Therefore, this book covers 700 races prior to 1984 adding 383 to the record book charting 137 drivers rating them by their strike rate capability, including many who, for whatever reason, had been excluded until now. A fascinating book. - TKC. The argument over who is the greatest-ever F1 driver continues to rage in pubs the world over, and in his first book engineer Brian Harvey attempts to give an answer - using science rather than subjectivity. Taking into account pre- and non-Championship races, plus GP equivalent series such as the Tasman and Temprada, he has produced a list of 700 eligible races, rather than the 317 official results. These events are graded for quality of entry, then Harvey takes into account likely wins lost in his search for an overall win percentage. The winner might not surprise, and you may disagree with the methodology, but it's undeniably fascinating and accompanied by a year-by-year history from 1947-84, with each race getting a brief overview, results, pole and fastest lap. - Classic & Sports Car. Well illustrated with many images from the LAT Archive, this is an intriguing book which sets out with the worthy aim of doing justice to the achievements of Formula 1 drivers outside the Workd Championship and who, too often, are overlooked. - BRDC Bulletin. It's rare for a new Formula 1 book to prove something truly different, but Formula One: The Real Score? succeeds. This would be a worthy addition to any motorsport fan's library. It's a great reminder of some of F1's rich forgotten history, and gives enthusiasts yet more food for thought when it comes to the big question: who is the greatest? - Autosport. This is a fascinating book that corrects many of the problems with the historical race record. You can agree of disagree with harvey's methodology, definitions or stats, but you cannot dismiss them. By considering the non-championship F1 races - more than half of all F1 races run prior to 1980 - harvey has put into context the teams, the drivers, and the races that have defined Formula One. It is a book to which the reader will return time and time again, and provides a more accurate picture of the times than the official statistics ever could. - thevirtualdriver.com. Brian Harvey has taken on an enormous task with this 352-page book, in an attempt to demonstrate that annual World Championship results do not necessarily reflect the best drivers, because, among other things, they do not represent the results of each year's 'significant' races. It really is a fascinating alternative look at races and results, while demonstrating that simply taking account of 'championship' Grand Prix (GPs) is a fairly limited was of assessing the respective merits of drivers. The amount of research that has gone into assembling the brief race summaries is very impressive, and worth a read on its own as a reminder of how different racing was in the past. This is an intriguing and, I think, important book. read it for yourself and see what you think of this alternative way of looking at F1 races and their outcomes. - New Zealand Classic Car.there is only one way to know the real score and that is this comprehensive book written by a knowledgeable racing enthusiast for true racing enthusiasts! Armed with this book, pub debates will never be dull. Sinisa (Seas) Linic
