The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane Hardcover – November 2, 2017

I enjoyed reading this book. It was really interesting to learn more about Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton behind the scenes. I thought it was a little heavy on descriptions of drunken shenanigans and general disrespect for others and their property for my tastes, but overall it was an accurate description of life in F1 at that time, so I can't fault the author on that. This is a very personal account of Elvis' career with McLaren, so if you're looking for a lot of technical details about the races and racing in general, this isn't it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in F1.

I had this book in my electronic collection for a long time before I finally decided to read it. What was I waiting for? I had no idea.When I finally began to read it, I simply could not stop. Priestley has done a wonderful job of relating the operations of a highly skilled and intriguing aspect of the one sport that I love.Filled with a very insightful and informative text that flows very naturally and is easy to read and understand. What a delightful read and a gem of a novel.If you are a fan of Formula One racing, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Thank-you Mr. Priestley for sharing your experience with us.

A wonderful book for the F1 fan. I've bought books written by ex-F1 people before, but this is the first I have that is written by a mechanic. As you can imagine, these guys work closely with the drivers and this book gives some insight into the makeup of the McLaren drivers of the 2000s and how they operated. The author goes into some detail of the more news making events of that period, and he also discloses some things about Ron Dennis I was not aware of. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I bought this book after finish reading “ How to Build a Car” written by Adrian Newey. The aforementioned book shared views on F1 from a designer’s perspective and I thought it might be fun to see F1 from a mechanic’s viewpoint.But this book spent quite a lot of pages talking about parties, immature behaviors after getting drunk and hideous pranks. Sure, those are stories we don’t know but you can imagine there must be some outrageous anecdotes after parties. That’s nothing new. Those stories are funny at first but I got bored quickly as contents like this occurred over and over again. You just can’t help thinking while reading the book: Why the author keep emphasizing how he appreciated this job, how he dedicated to his work but also keep doing immature things at the same time.If you are new to F1, this book provides some basic knowledge and framework on what the sport is about. If you’ve have followed F1 closely, then I believe there is limited insightful information for you to learn.

A very light & frothy recounting of McLaren’s F1 team from inside the pit crew. Interesting more because of the profiles of Kimi, Hamilton, & Alonso than any particular insights offered by the author. No technical motor racing info at all, which disappointed me.

This is a great read, with a perspective that is rarely seen or heard. From the path to becoming part of the pit stop crew for races, to what happens after the race is over (the mechanics do not sit around the hotel waiting for their flight home). Insights into the 2007 season with all the turmoil between Alonso and Hamilton, and 2008, winning the WDC. Very interesting to see all this from the mechanics side. Doesn’t hurt that Marc sees the insincerity and fakeness from Hamilton, something many of us have been pointing out for his entire career.

Behind the scenes insight into the lives of F1 drivers, owners, and executives, both on track & offtrack, seen from perspective of a team mechanic. Although it lets race fans see a limited glimpse into the personal lives & practical business dealings of the Formula 1 teams drive for the championship, the practical knowledge of engineers; mechanics is limited to brief roles how they prepare; set-about functioning specific tasks to win a race. A bit gossip. A bit garage. Not quite the checked flag.

Such a brilliant read, I have been an F1 fan for years and have read countless books from drivers and media people but I've never had an insight from the perspective of a mechanic. This gives a great account of what it's like behind the scenes in an F1 team and especially during the well documented 2007 season. Can't recommend this enough, even if you aren't a massive F1 fan I don't think it would matter you will still enjoy this book.

Mechanic Behaving BadlyTales of drunken episodes, many of which terminate in extensive damage to vehicles or hotel property. I guess from the summary you might expect some sensational alcohol fueled recollections here and Elvis does not disappoint. How this behaviour squared with McLaren corporate discipline sees Elvis get a few warnings but I am amazed Ron did not dispose of him. His final prank was very nearly his last. A rather childish mentality prevails hereIf you are interested in the technical world of a F1 spannner man this is not it. The book focuses on the team years with Raikonnen, Hamilton and Alonso. Of course "Spygate" occured at this time too. Some interesting insight into the Alonso/Hamilton relationship but most of this stuff has been well documented. He was a good mate of Kimi who apparently was a bit of a party animal from time to time. You get to hear of the Ron Dennis OCD, Hamilton's behaviour that was at times somewhat petulant and Mr Alonso having to deal with a rising F1 star in 2007/8. Bearing in mind this mechanics career at the team you could have expected more about life in the garage, but he has his accounts firmly focused on team matters and driver relationships. Well written and not a bad story in a sort of a Daily Mirror style.

Marc Priestley offers an amazing and unique insight into the McLaren F1 team with various tales and stories about the drivers, his fellow colleagues and the various antics that he got up to through the various eras as a mechanic, while moving through his different roles in the team. Well worth a read and it was fascinating to have McLaren painted in a completely different perspective to what I'd previously thought/known.

After hearing the author interviewed on the BBC, i purchased the book thinking it would be insightful and entertaining - unfortunately, it didn’t live up that.It’s a perfectly pleasant read, but for me it lacked detail, wasn’t particularly amusing and finished rather flat - yes, there were a few nuggets - but overall not a huge amount you wouldn’t get from just following F1 during the period covered - and assuming there is a lot of partying, drunken misbehaviour and so on.I can’t really recommend unfortunately.

I was disappointed that Marc's book which is very well written by the way, did not cover the pit lane as I expected. Certainly we learn what life was like 'outside' of the garage in the mechanics rare time off. And the many Kimi fans will I'm sure enjoy the rare insights into his world. What was missing for me were the 'secrets of the pit lane' itself. There is little material covering the broader activity of the garage and pit lane during Grand Prix weekends, and mentions of Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh in their race capacities are almost non-existent. There is however plenty from Marc's experience as a pit stop crew member and the stresses and strains and maybe that will be enough for most readers. Maybe I was expecting too much from the books sub title, others will I'm sure be well satisfied.

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.It is quite general so is not too technical which is positive for the casual F1 fan or those who are not mechanically minded. It casts McLaren in a new light showing that it is not entirely the ultra professional team they wish to portray and that at least the mechanics can have a laugh.It contains lots of interesting stories of what it is like to work in F1 and the camaraderie between mechanics. A bit more tell all info in places, particularly about Ron Dennis would have been nice but what there were was very interesting. It was very interesting to read a mechanic’s view of the feelings about having an unproved rookie in the form of Lewis Hamilton in the team and the challenging 2007 season.There are lots of fun stories of the mechanics behaving badly, of particular interest is the story about filling Kimi’s gloves with blue dye and Kimi’s subsequent revenge. It shows that Kimi can be a warm and friendly guy and is up for a laugh.Overall, this is a fun account of what it is like to be a mechanic and a good read for an F1 fan. A bit more serious insight in places would have been nice though. It strikes a good balance between insight and drunken tales though and is enjoyable to read.