Assouline Formula 1: The Impossible Collection

A six-point safety belt wraps over your shoulders and between your legs, a head and neck brace clamps along your chest. The world ahead is visible only above an edge at eye level; the world behind is seen only through two mirrors no bigger than cigarette cases. The starting lights begin to glow red and when they extinguish, your life will enter another dimension: this is not a fighter jet or spacecraft, you are on the starting grid of a Formula One circuit, strapped into the world's most technologically advanced race car. The turbocharged engine, with more than 1,000 hp, is about to kick you in the back and rocket to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, heading for the first corner of the track. For the average reader, even driving a single lap of a Grand Prix would be impossible. But for the world's top 20 drivers in the series' 10 teams, it is a way of life that is extreme in almost every facet.

Selected by veteran F1 journalist Brad Spurgeon, Formula 1: The Impossible Collection describes the milestones that have elevated Formula 1 from a gentleman's club in 1950 to a global sport with hundreds of millions of fans, third in popularity only to the Olympics and the World Cup football. Highlighting exceptional technical innovations, remarkable driver performances and thrilling racing finishes, this book highlights immortal names such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Bruce McLaren, Enzo Ferrari, Colin Chapman, Bernie Ecclestone, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, who recently made history by equalling Schumacher's championship titles and breaking his record of total wins in his career.

A spirited tribute to the sport and all those who have made it possible over the decades, this hand-crafted Ultimate Collection volume dynamically illustrates that Formula 1 is much more than 'cars going round in circles', it is the culmination of a passion that has seen the mechanics, technicians, engineers and team directors behind the scenes, alongside the drivers themselves, willing to pay possibly the ultimate sacrifice to be part of its glorious history. Housed in a luxury clamshell case with a metal plate, this spectacular volume is presented in a red canvas carrying case to preserve its craftsmanship.

Formula 1: The Impossible Collection is written in English, has 228 pages and measures W 39.4 x L 47.3 x D 7.6 cm.