Chequered Conflict: The Inside Story on Two Explosive F1 World Championships

by Maurice Hamilton

The 2007 Formula One Championship was the first since the legendary 1986 season in which three drivers went into the final race with the possibility of being crowned champion. And not since that fateful year, when Mansell, Piquet and Prost went head-to-head, has a season so captured the world's attention and drawn so many new spectators to the sport - for reasons both on and off the track. It wasn't meant to be that way. When Fernando Alonso joined McLaren for 2007, the unspoken assumption was that the double world champion would steadily proceed to his third title in a row. He would have done exactly that, but for a development no-one could have foreseen. Carl Lewis Hamilton, a relative unknown and just twenty-two-years old, would climb into the other McLaren-Mercedes and captivate the world withconsistently brilliantperformances. Even as it welcomed this new prodigy, however, the world of Formula One was rocked by accusations of spying between McLaren and their bitter rivals Ferrari; accusations that resulted in millions of pounds in fines and an ill feeling between the teams, their drivers and the governing body that now threatens the future of the sport. Revisiting the 1986 season to contrast it with the world of F1 today, and applying his extensive experience as an award-winning motor-sport journalist for over 30 years, Maurice Hamilton provides a review of a season that will be remembered as one of the most important and unique in the sport's history. Analysing the individual races in expert detail as well as looking at the drivers themselves, CHEQUERED CONFLICT in its look at how radically the sport has changed in those twenty years, will become a classic of its

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maurice Hamilon’s telling of the 2007 Formula 1 championship has all the right ingredients. 2007 was genuinely thrilling: a championship which went down to the final race; double world champion Alonso found himself tested by his new teammate, the prodigy Lewis Hamilton in his debut year; McLaren and Ferrari fought tooth & nail on track; while off track “spy gate” erupted leading to draconian penalties being imposed. And the idea of contrasting 2007 with 1986, another down-to-the-wire year, should have been inspired. And the author is an established motorsports journalist who has reported on the sport for years.

Except…. it’s quite short and very superficial. 1986 occupies less than a quarter of the book. The writing is cliched. And worse, it’s laughably biased, with Alonso portrayed at times as a pantomime villain. Not awful by any means, but in the end it’s just another pot-boiler.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

So apparently Fernando Alonso is the Antichrist and Lewis Hamilton is a paragon of virtue and justice. I doubt this is the case.

I enjoyed the book in terms of the factual elements of the 2007 year but have to say that the writer is clearly a massive fan of Lewis Hamilton and fails to see that he may too be less than perfect and that sometimes his actions may well have been misguided or petulant.

It seems that everything Alonso did is criticised as bad behaviour, psychological warfare etc etc but Lewis Hamilton does no wrong. He is quite simply far above playing mind games and far above making silly comments. Any time he has made a silly comment or behaved badly it seems to simply be glossed over in the book. There are at least 3 times I read descriptions of Hamilton's actions and thought he appeared just as petulant as the writer tries to make Alonso seem yet the writer glosses over it and treats him like some kind of Second Coming.

All in all I enjoyed the book but it is not an unbiased account of the championship year - I am sure if you are a die hard Hamilton fan then you will love it because never a bad word is said against him. But for those of us wanting a proper account of the sport it is not the best F1 book I have read.

Not enough mention of the ever amazing Mr Kimi Raikkonen for my liking either!!!!!

[Harini Dedhia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having started following F1 recently, I found this narration of the 2007 season and the parallels drawn to the 1986 season very interesting. The dramatic story of the 2007 season is riveting and the writing does justice to assuming a curb side view of the whole season. The characterisation of the three champions in fray is intriguing given that all three still race on the circuit together. At times the excerpts from interviews/ judgements/ etc. included in the book are too lengthy and take away from the narrative by being a bit repetitive. Regardless a super fun read for all F1 enthusiasts!

[Nina Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, this was supposed to be an account of the 2007 events not a 300 pages manuscript of how incredible and virtuous Hamilton is but ok. Trying to paint Alonso in the worst light possible got a bit tiring and got me rolling my eyes.

Finally, how do you write about the 2007 championship and barely mention Kimi and Ferrari???

Anyway, the factual information was interesting as were the parallels between the two championships.

[Diana Goulding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read!!

So many great stories inside! This is my 7th F1 book and I learned so much about the 2007 season. Wow! Love this book.

[okay · Rating 3 out of 5]

ready for my degree in f1 history