Lewis Hamilton: My Story - Lewis Hamilton

I would imagine there are quite a few of Lewis's books already wrapped and sitting under the xmas tree, and on the day the first thing people will look for is the chapter where Lewis goes into detail about his relationship with Fernando Alonso, his Mc Laren teamate to get Lewis's version of what went on in their supposed rocky relationship which claimed much front page as well as back page headline in the press.

Well far be it for me to let the cat out of the bag. I, knowing quite a lot about this young man must be objective, fair and not spoil anybody's xmas afternoon browsing.

The book written pretty much in Lewis's words and his style of speech was done with the assistance of Tim Collins and you do get the feeling that most of the input was from Lewis himself. So much so that the writing shows a fair amount of repetition and a naivety of someone not used to tell a story, after all Lewis has been a bit busy the last 12 years or so.

Having said that the book has a reasonable balance, the first 3 chapters devoted to what it takes to be an F1 driver. The next 3 chapters are devoted to his early life, growing up in Stevenage and getting into competitive racing and his family life. I wished more space was given to this as Lewis's early life and the support and devotion of his family make interesting reading. From chapter 7 on the book follows the 2007 F1 season, which Lewis almost won, and its here you get a sense that this book was produced as a kind of celebration of Lewis's championship winning year. Of course the story had a different ending, one which I think most of us did not expect least of all Lewis.

Having said all that for those of you looking for the ideal Xmas gift for your motor sport mad dad this book won't disappoint. I may sound a bit scathing about the lack of content and Lewis's repetition of his core skills and family values, but having watched this young mans career from the early days at Rye House kart track through to his amazing GP2 championship win, there could be more detail about his early life, and there is barely two paragraphs written about his GP2 year.

Anyway, if like me you tore through the pages hoping to get the juicy Lewis/Alonso duel, don't. Stick with it, read it cover to cover and enjoy the wonderful photographs, especially his early ones.

No doubt there will be another book which will be just as entertaining. The one which covers his F1 championship winning year. Let's hope its next year.

Lewis Hamilton, my story.

Published by Harper Collins ISBN 978-0-00-727005-7

www.harpercollins.co.uk

rrp £18.99, but can be bought for around £9-£12

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