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Working the Wheel
Martin Brundle first came to the public's attention when he raced wheel-to-wheel with Ayrton Senna and gave the great Brazilian the toughest challenge of his early career. A regular podium winner with Williams, McLaren, Jordan and Brabham, Brundle began commentating with Murray Walker in 1997. He is now ITV's main commentator and speaks to an estimated 40 million English-speaking people around the world. In this unique book the reader will have his armchair converted to the laid-down cockpit of a Formula One car and be swept around the world's classic motor racing circuits. He will experience the extraordinary sensations, the adrenaline and the atmosphere as told by the sport's best analyst. Together with F1's respected journalist, Maurice Hamilton, Brundle brings his infallible humour and insight, his experiences and opinion, to each of the circuits and its classic races. From the camber at Monaco, which will leave your wheels hanging in the air, to Melbourne and the dynamics behind the most dramatic crash of the decade. Encompassing such essential details as neck-snapping acceleration, smashing cars worth a quarter of a million and the amount of sweat a driver will lose in a race, this is a rare F1 book - funny, opinionated, evocative and dramatic.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published October 14, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 18, 2018
This wasn't quite the book I was expecting, which to be fair is my fault for not reading the back properly. This isn't an autobiography, although there are bits of it that are autobiographical.
It’s a trip around the favourite race courses of Martins, there’s a little of the history of the course, along with some of his memories of the running in the track. A lot of it is technical, how to actually drive the circuit. Given though that this was written over a decade ago, some of it is now a bit out of date.
It’s written with the warmth and humour you’ll be used to if you listen to his commentating. He’s got a wonderful way with words, and can make even the most technical topic clear to the lay reader. Where’s he got stories about running to and from various tracks in little cars, you can almost hear his voice. Saying all that though, it does all feel a little dry at times. Possibly a little too much about how exactly to do the lap. I’d love to see him write a proper autobiography at some point.
It’s a trip around the favourite race courses of Martins, there’s a little of the history of the course, along with some of his memories of the running in the track. A lot of it is technical, how to actually drive the circuit. Given though that this was written over a decade ago, some of it is now a bit out of date.
It’s written with the warmth and humour you’ll be used to if you listen to his commentating. He’s got a wonderful way with words, and can make even the most technical topic clear to the lay reader. Where’s he got stories about running to and from various tracks in little cars, you can almost hear his voice. Saying all that though, it does all feel a little dry at times. Possibly a little too much about how exactly to do the lap. I’d love to see him write a proper autobiography at some point.
April 12, 2018
Useful research for my upcoming book www.1994f1.com
This isn't an autobiography, but it is a very enjoyable book for fans of motor racing.
Brundle raced Group C sportscars and F1 at most of the world's greatest circuits and describes each one on a corner-by-corner basis (more or less) mixing this with anecdotes from races from his long (and quite successful) career. Brundle's style comes through and it's readable throughout (no doubt due to the skill of his co-author). The sections one each circuit are concise too, so it's easy to pick up and put down.
Well worth a read prior to watching a race on TV at a particular circuit, although be aware that many have changed since the book was written. I’d love to see him write a proper autobiography at some point.
This isn't an autobiography, but it is a very enjoyable book for fans of motor racing.
Brundle raced Group C sportscars and F1 at most of the world's greatest circuits and describes each one on a corner-by-corner basis (more or less) mixing this with anecdotes from races from his long (and quite successful) career. Brundle's style comes through and it's readable throughout (no doubt due to the skill of his co-author). The sections one each circuit are concise too, so it's easy to pick up and put down.
Well worth a read prior to watching a race on TV at a particular circuit, although be aware that many have changed since the book was written. I’d love to see him write a proper autobiography at some point.
March 2, 2019
Slightly mixed feelings at times as the narration is dry and I expected a few more perspectives from Brundle himself (comparing it with Herbert’s book, for instance) - but Martin is very clear in stating that it’s not an autobiography.
Looking at the amount of new things I learnt thanks to this book, I am very happy I read it.
Definitely recommended to F1 fans to get an idea of racing in the mid 80s and 90s and to appreciate how much the sport has changed since.
The most interesting take away is how “human” the life of an F1 driver was back then - I was appalled reading about Brundle and Blundell having to recover themselves their rental car from the police pound while exhausted right after the Italian GP in Monza. Unimaginable these days!
Looking at the amount of new things I learnt thanks to this book, I am very happy I read it.
Definitely recommended to F1 fans to get an idea of racing in the mid 80s and 90s and to appreciate how much the sport has changed since.
The most interesting take away is how “human” the life of an F1 driver was back then - I was appalled reading about Brundle and Blundell having to recover themselves their rental car from the police pound while exhausted right after the Italian GP in Monza. Unimaginable these days!
January 4, 2021
You're taken on a wonderful journey around the world as a driver embedded in the F1 circus. Delivered from the view of one of the most prolific privileged few to have raced in F1. Not for people who are not already in love with the sport.
May 29, 2025
Personally I’m very much enjoying reading this book, as I’ve been listening to Martin’s voice for years commentating on a sport he very much still loves. That I could hear his voice throughout as if he was telling the story himself to me while having a quiet drink in a bar somewhere.
May 15, 2014
I dusted off this one thinking it would be a bit of light reading before bed for the next couple of weeks. I ended up tearing through it in about three days. It's not often I agree with the newspaper quotes plastered all over the modern paperback, but in this case they're absolutely accurate. "A must for any F1 fan," is damn right.
It's a thousand little things the TV simply can't communicate: getting lost in the black forest on the walk back to pits at Hockenheim; struggling to follow handwritten Japanese directions on the drive to Suzuka; trying to find a hire car more sturdy than a Trabant in Communist Hungary. It's hanging onto a car as it scuttles across the crown and manhole covers of an everyday street in Detroit. It's finding out that until 6pm the five-kilometre Mulsanne Straight is actually French Route Nationale 6, and keeping control of a Le Mans car at 350km/h is made tricky by the trucks that have worn ruts in the road that the car tends to slot into.
Brundle's great strength as a broadcaster is his ability to use plain English to communicate, vividly and with colour, what's actually going on in the cockpit. In this book is, he expands it beyond race driving to the whole adventure - hotels, hire cars, dealing with the locals, finding restaurants. Although it's not at all his purpose, Working The Wheel will indirectly show you why Laguna Seca will never host the U.S. Grand Prix, and why Brazil arrived on the calendar so early when it is only now stepping up to become a first-world country (and likely superpower).
One of the funniest aspects of the book though (if you don't mind a little black humour) is how Martin seems to have crashed at every single corner of every single circuit at one point or another. What makes it a running gag is he doesn't seem to notice how often it comes up, like a senile old relative oblivious to everyone's shock at their racist comments. To most of us a car accident is a horrific and (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime event. Martin seems to have been through dozens and doesn't flinch when recounting them. After a while, neither do we.
Despite its simple language, Martin does a fantastic job of putting us on the ground at a Grand Prix venue, letting us touch the dirt and kick the weeds. A highly readable insight into the world of the Grand Prix driver, and one I recommend without reserve.
It's a thousand little things the TV simply can't communicate: getting lost in the black forest on the walk back to pits at Hockenheim; struggling to follow handwritten Japanese directions on the drive to Suzuka; trying to find a hire car more sturdy than a Trabant in Communist Hungary. It's hanging onto a car as it scuttles across the crown and manhole covers of an everyday street in Detroit. It's finding out that until 6pm the five-kilometre Mulsanne Straight is actually French Route Nationale 6, and keeping control of a Le Mans car at 350km/h is made tricky by the trucks that have worn ruts in the road that the car tends to slot into.
Brundle's great strength as a broadcaster is his ability to use plain English to communicate, vividly and with colour, what's actually going on in the cockpit. In this book is, he expands it beyond race driving to the whole adventure - hotels, hire cars, dealing with the locals, finding restaurants. Although it's not at all his purpose, Working The Wheel will indirectly show you why Laguna Seca will never host the U.S. Grand Prix, and why Brazil arrived on the calendar so early when it is only now stepping up to become a first-world country (and likely superpower).
One of the funniest aspects of the book though (if you don't mind a little black humour) is how Martin seems to have crashed at every single corner of every single circuit at one point or another. What makes it a running gag is he doesn't seem to notice how often it comes up, like a senile old relative oblivious to everyone's shock at their racist comments. To most of us a car accident is a horrific and (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime event. Martin seems to have been through dozens and doesn't flinch when recounting them. After a while, neither do we.
Despite its simple language, Martin does a fantastic job of putting us on the ground at a Grand Prix venue, letting us touch the dirt and kick the weeds. A highly readable insight into the world of the Grand Prix driver, and one I recommend without reserve.
January 17, 2010
Interesting. Can't remember when read it but would've been pre 2008
October 6, 2012
Written in chapters about Martin's experiences/memories of each circuit, enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews