History: Everything about Swiss F1 drivers
ENCYCLOPEDIA Volume 1 of "The Swiss Drivers in F1" was published in December 2018. Now authors Jean-Marie Wyder and Mario Luini have published the second book. The focus is on Clay Regazzoni. Anyone who, as a Swiss or Swiss dual citizen, has had any relevant connection to the premier class or GP cars since the beginnings of Formula 1 in 1950, [...]
Anyone who, as a Swiss or Swiss dual citizen, has had any relevant connection with the premier class or GP cars since the beginnings of Formula 1 in 1950 appears in one or both of these colossal books. One can speak of an encyclopedia, so extensive, heavy and richly illustrated are volumes 1 and 2 of "The Swiss Drivers in F1". They probably leave no question unanswered. All texts are written in three languages. The only flaw is the somewhat bumpy translation of some texts from French into German.
Jo Siffert and Marc Surer are followed by Clay Regazzoni and Sébastien Buemi
While Jo Siffert and Marc Surer were the focus of the 430 pages in Volume 1, the second part is devoted to Clay Regazzoni as the most successful Swiss GP driver in history, with around 200 of the now 600 pages.
The ongoing career of Sébastien Buemi, who has a contract with Red Bull as a development and simulator driver until 2021, is also outlined. The same applies to the only Formula 1 driver from Switzerland at present, namely Romain Grosjean from Geneva, who starts for France.
Everyone finds mention
Those who missed Emmanuel "Toulo" de Graffenried as the Swiss GP driver of the first hour in volume 1 will now get their money's worth. However, both volumes are completed by the more or less small chapters on the Swiss drivers who hardly ever made a big appearance at Grands Prix.
In Volume 2, for example, these are Toni Branca, Andrea Chiesa, Jean-Denis Delétraz, Peter Monteverdi (as driver, not team owner), Jean-Claude Rudaz, Rudi Schoeller (hand on heart - who has ever heard of him before?), Peter Staechelin, Ottorino Volonterio, Jo Vonlanthen, Heini Walter and André Wicky.
But there are interesting stories to tell about all of them, especially since some of them were more successful in other racing series.
Until the present
The so-called Friday drivers (entries in free practice sessions at GP weekends) Neel Jani, Fabio Leimer and Giorgio Mondini are also duly mentioned. The same goes for the Swiss drivers who have only been in Formula 1 cars on test drives or other occasions, such as Simona de Silvestro, Alain Menu, Marcel Fässler and Nicolas Prost, to name but a few. At the very end, there is even a brief mention of Louis Delétraz, who was allowed to complete a test day at HaasF1 in Abu Dhabi in November 2018.
Both books live from the many photographs, most of which have never been published before. For each driver there is a richly illustrated and described career history and the complete statistics.
Foreword by two daughters
Alessia Giorgetti (-Regazzoni) and Véronique de Sybourg (-Siffert) indulge in special memories. The daughters of the only two Swiss GP winners each wrote a foreword. Sébastien Buemi also has a personal word to say at the beginning of Volume 2.
As already emphasized at the presentation of volume 1 (see online report of December 10): Even those who believe that they already know and have seen everything will find what they are looking for in the second book. The enormous effort therefore justifies the price of 169 francs per volume plus postage and shipping.
The easiest way to order both books "The Swiss Drivers in F1" is via the specially set up homepage. There you can also discover excerpts from some chapters.
