“Lewis Hamilton: New Kid on the Grid” (Ian Stafford, 2007)

Joining the pile of Lewis Hamilton biographies vying for the consumer pound in the gift-giving season is this effort from Ian Stafford.

Does it have anything to make it stand out from its many rivals?

The focus of “New kid on the grid” is Hamilton’s first season in Formula 1. The back story of his time in karting, Formula Renault, Formula Three and GP2 is covered in a mere six pages.

The remainder of this 220-page book tells the story of the 2007 season and it has to be said that plenty of other titles do a better job.

It’s not as if it’s badly written, it just lacks anything to set it apart from the competition.

The official “My Story”, though rather dull, at least has the selling point of being from the horse’s mouth. Mark Hughes’s “The Full Story”, which is still my pick of the bunch, has more biographical detail, new insights from people close to Hamilton and a more analytical attitude to Hamilton’s F1 races.

“New kid on the grid” has little of that it’s a fairly by-the numbers rehashing of press releases and news stories.

Stacked in its favour is the substantial amount of quality photography, although the heavy bias towards Hamilton’s F1 career makes it rather repetitive.

You can get Hughes’s book for the same money and I can’t think of a reason to recommend this title instead of it.

RaceFans rating

£16.99
Mainstream Publishing
2007
9781845963385

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• "Lewis Hamilton: A Dream Comes True" (Brian Belton, 2007)
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