Quentin Spurring Libros

Gilles Villeneuve was the quintessential racing driver – brave, dashing and passionate, and is one of the few truly iconic drivers. His epic last-lap struggle with René Arnoux in the 1979 French GP and his lap on three wheels at Zandvoort the same year have passed into motor racing folklore. This book brings Villeneuve’s career vividly to life through stunning images exclusively from the archives of LAT, the world’s biggest library of motor racing photographs.

This richly illustrated photographic essay captures the human drama and technical ingenuity that have characterized Grand Prix racing ever since the first event in 1906. Many of these photographs have never been published before, including wonderful images from early glass-plate negatives. The book graphically tells the story of the iconic cars that changed the sport over the past 100 years and the men who raced them- the greatest drivers including Felice Nazzaro, Tazio Nuvolari, Rudi Caracciola, Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, and many more. Dramatic and beautiful photographs of the key drivers, entrants, cars, and venues combine with highly informative captions to present a vivid and often intimate picture of the first century of Grand Prix racing.

Following the success of its sister volume, which covered the 1970s, this book features another classic era as Formula 1 - attracting growing interest via TV - became a mainstream sport. The 1980s saw the emergence of McLaren and Williams as the dominant teams. Normally aspirated engines gave way to more powerful turbocharged units, before the regulations changed in 1989 to favor non-turbo motors again. The defining drivers were Gilles Villeneuve, Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. The 1980s saw the demise of the privateer entrants as technology and costs escalated.