At the port chicane, Hawkins’ Lotus 33 Climax turned left, out to sea. As reported by Smailes, the car “sank 10 meters with 28-year-old Hawkins still on board. It wasn’t until it settled to the bottom and rescue divers arrived that Hawkins freed himself, took a long gulp of air from an offered mouthpiece, and shot back to the surface. He had had the extraordinary presence of mind to flip the kill switch on the engine when the car plunged into the water to save the very expensive engine of the very poor team from immediate destruction. It was dried and used again at the following Grand Prix. “
Chris Amon overtook the terrible fall of his team-mate Lorenzo Bandini in the remaining Ferrari. Getty
It was round 79 of 100 and then the show went on and on. In fact, one of the many excellent photos in the book, published two years later, shows Chris Amon driving past the burning – and ultimately fatal – wreck of his Ferrari team boss Lorenzo Bandini. The caption reads: “Amon and the rest of the field had to drive past the scene of the accident for the remaining 18 laps of the race. Amon was deeply affected by the third party. “
Hawkeye died while racing a sports car in 1969, Amon retired at home in New Zealand and lived as a farmer.
Despite the inevitable tragedies, Formula One: The Australian and New Zealand Story is not a somber book. There are Ricciardo’s smiles to light up a few pages and lots of uplifting stories including his origin story from racing as told by his father Joe.
Daniel Ricciardo celebrates his victory on the podium at the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at the Autodromo di Monza on September 12th. Getty
As with previous Smailes books, the tone is chatty and the number of interviews conducted is impressive. For example, he tracks down the New Zealander Howden Ganley in a guarded golf community near San Francisco and tells a fascinating story. During his career, Smailes has interviewed 20 of the 24 full-fledged members of the F1 Club.
A wide selection of photographs includes many that have never been published in book form before. An obvious exclusion from the content is a table with the race start and finish positions for each of the drivers.
HAVE TO KNOW
Formula One: The Australian and New Zealand Story by John Smailes is published by Allen & Unwin. MSRP $ 39.99, available at all booksellers.
