F1 Heroes celebrated in a new photo book

The images are the work of the celebrated photographers from Motorsport Images, principally Rainer Schlegelmilch, Ercole Colombo, Michael, and Steven Tee as well as Mark Sutton.

“I believe the most fitting word is ‘intensity ‘”, writes Domenicali. “This is the key ingredient of Formula 1 but also of life. You will find it in every one of the photographs before you… a journey through Motorsport Images‘ collection of photographs, a unique ‘archive of archives’. It comprises the works of many prestigious and invaluable photojournalists.”

The book, which has been curated by Colombo and well-known Italian journalist Giorgio Terruzzi, features many well-known images. The cover is Andy Hone’s award-winning shot of Romain Grosjean’s miracle escape from his fireball accident in Bahrain. Schlegelmich’s iconic shot of Ayrton Senna in a pensive mood and Colombo’s image of Gilles Villeneuve’s full-blooded slide in the Ferrari are among other highlights. Many of the images are unique; Steven Tee’s photo of the collision between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1989, for example.

Ayrton Senna, McLaren

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Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch

Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, emerges from flames after a horrific crash on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Marshals attend the accident

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Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alain Prost, McLaren, Ayrton Senna, McLaren

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Photo by: Motorsport Images

Gilles Villeneuve, Ferrari

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Photo by: Ercole Colombo

The book tells the story of F1 and its heroic drivers in a series of chapters covering each of the eight decades. The black and white images from the 1950s and early 1960s show the simplicity of the cars and race tracks. They give way to the color of the late 1960s and 1970s, Formula 1’s most glamourous but also most dangerous time, when many lives were lost. The golden age of Senna, Prost, Mansell, Lauda and Piquet in the 1980s leads to the Michael Schumacher years in the 1990s and 2000s and from there on to Hamilton and the present-day heroes.

Photography has been ever-present in the storytelling of F1 across its 70 years and as the television coverage becomes more fragmented and social media’s importance increases, so too does the importance of high-quality imagery.

Some of the images from the book have also been on display during September to coincide with the Italian Grand Prix weekend in Monza, in an exhibition at the nearby Villa Reale, which attracted thousands of Grand Prix fans, as well as locals.

“F1 Heroes” is published by Skira and is now available to buy at Skira.

https://www.skira.net/en/books/f1-heroes-1/.

Ercole Colombo