The principle is sound, as are the author’s credentials... [A] genuine attempt to reflect the day-to-day realities of a relentless life on the road. And it is relayed by someone who doesn’t feel duty-bound to toe the corporate line" ( Motorsport) If ever anyone left the race team after a significant length of service, either to retire or move on, it was our longstanding tradition to physically abuse that person after their last race. This would generally happen in a horrifically degrading manner, and often in front of the entire pitlane. Over the years I’ve seen people tied to the pit wall fence and covered with leftover food slops (which had been saved up during the week in preparation). People were doused in liquids that should never have been publicly seen outside of the human body. And I’ve watched, horrified, as one mechanic was set on fire before being hosed down with the enormous pitstop foam fire extinguisher.” There was a reflection of the season in the way we all partied that night. Fernando disappeared, never to be seen again. Lewis gathered together his own ever growing entourage in an exclusive private VIP area, none of us from the team were invited. Instead we dragged the night away with the new Formula 1 World Champion somewhere in Sao Paulo. I say somewhere because I really can't remember much about it. I do remember we ended up at Kimi's hotel, the sun rising, none of us able to stand or talk, but it was so nice to finally be able to share part of that incredible achievement with him. I couldn't help but feel that even though he was no longer driving for us, in our own inimitable chaotic McLaren way we'd made a substantial contribution to his world championship season and a tiny part of me had to have a laugh about that. Even after years in the sport, things like that still blew my mind, and as a normal bloke on the street, albeit one with a passion for working with cars and technology, I got to live out my dream job while dipping my toes into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Just being in the bubble proved both infectious and disorientating at times. The adrenaline rush and the excitement of F1 is what entices and then traps a lot of people into the sport. They don’t want to leave, and when they eventually do they often have a hard time finding a replacement for the emotional highs and lows.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane [Hardcover The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane [Hardcover

Marc ‘Elvis’ Priestley worked for McLaren Racing as a Formula One mechanic and member of the pitstop crew from 2000-2009. He worked with a distinguished list of drivers including Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen, Jean Alesi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.Meet Marc 'Elvis' Priestley: the former number-one McLaren mechanic, and the brains behind some of Formula One's greatest ever drivers. Kimi was clearly also much loved by the mechanics, as he was just one of the guys and they had a lot of fun together. Some of the pranks were quite ridiculous and I couldn't help but laugh. Then came 2007 though. Enter Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Kimi had left for Ferrari that year and oh, how the atmosphere changed within the team. Now there were some big egos to be dealt with.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane eBook The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane eBook

Following his retirement from McLaren, Elvis’ first broadcast role was as pitlane reporter for BBC Radio 5 Live, where he was able to share his vast technical experience of the cars and equipment with listeners. Since then, Elvis has become an integral part of Sky’s F1 coverage. He now a co-host on the channel’s studio based chat show, The F1 Report, as well as attending a number of Grand Prix events. Marc 'Elvis' Priestley worked for McLaren Racing as a Formula One mechanic and member of the pitstop crew from 2000-2009. He worked with a distinguished list of drivers including Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen, Jean Alesi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. A really interesting read on what it was like to be in the inside of Formula One during when Red Bull had came into the sport and ignited the parties and drunken behaviour. But also an interesting insight into the Mclaren team. Amongst all of this chaos over the years, Elvis was a dependable, reliable pair of hands and a great character to be around. Find out what really happens in the heat of a Formula One garage from McLaren's former Number One mechanic.rounding up (dammit, GR, are half-stars really that difficult???) But these hard-partying guys get 1 star for obnoxious behavior. (Except for Kimi, he gets a pass). unreservedly accessible pdf archives on the Internet. We don't have any document on our server. In the event The principle is sound, as are the author’s credentials… [A] genuine attempt to reflect the day-to-day realities of a relentless life on the road. And it is relayed by someone who doesn’t feel duty-bound to toe the corporate line Motorsport Obsahově nemám téměř co vytknout. Kniha mě bavila, dozvěděla jsem se něco nového, připomněla si, co už jsem věděla. Jednu hvězdičku jsem strhla pouze proto, že mi přišlo, jako by autor občas trochu zmateně přeskakoval z jedné události na druhou, ale nebylo to nic hrozného.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane Paperback The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane Paperback

All I've learned is that to be a good pit-stop mechanic (ie, change wheels, change nose cone, fuel up) you have to be able to do one thing really well, like hold something up in the air, or wield the gun that takes the nuts off the wheel and to be a team player. He talks about endless testing, but doesn't go into details of what they were testing, what the differences were between what existed and what they were trying to do and exactly how the testing was carryed out.Ron Dennis' rather special personality (I always found him fascinating) was the much more interesting aspect of this book in the early chapters. Some parts of this reminded me of reading about Steve Jobs, another interesting character. And then Kimi arrived at the team and the book became immense fun. Marc Priestly was a mechanic at McLaren from 2000 to 2009, before he left the team to pursue a career in media, working for the BBC and Sky Sports among others and writing articles for magazines like Autosport and F1 Racing. What are the challenges and opportunities for integrating cycling and walking modes into traffic models? This is an enjoyable inside account of the day to day realities of what it is like to be a mechanic in an F1 team. And even the non-Kimi chapters were easy to read and entertaining, even if at times it felt like I was reading about a foreign world in a foreign language. After all, a Smart Car is my idea of an ideal vehicle, so I suppose that says everything about my racing car knowledge.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane - Goodreads The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane - Goodreads

With Kimi, though, there’s never been an ego, let alone an inflated one, and the celebrity lifestyle just wasn’t his way.He started out getting his hands dirty as a mechanic in Formula Ford and British Formula 3 before rising through the ranks to the pinnacle of motorsport, which is where we first met when we both worked for McLaren’s Formula One team. F1 attracts many, but few sustain in that rare air of competition where the correct answer to any question is ‘Yes I can’. The relentless pursuit of marginal gains with many late nights and early mornings would break a mere mortal, but Elvis represents the pinnacle of a man’s desire to constantly push to be the greatest version of himself. The anecdotes that involve Kimi Raikkonen and the crucial season with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were the highlights, but the rest of the book is also so enjoyable that you will finish it in a short amount of time with a smile on your face.