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To Hell and Back

By: Niki Lauda Herbert Volver
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Corgi
ISBN: 0552992941
ISBN-13: 9780552992947
Released: 26 Jun 1987
RRP: £2.99
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Customer Reviews

To hell and back - By: Thomas Koetzsch, 02 Feb 2008
I am amazed that this book has been out for 20 years & nobody has written a review on it.
In his autobiography, Niki Lauda describes his life from his birth right to his retirement in 1985. On top of that he adds chapters on the evolution of Formula One during his career, observations on his colleagues & competitors, the Lauda System (of success), his home & the pains of building Lauda Air.
I shalll spare you any extensive review of Niki Lauda's Formula One career because you can read that up in his book yourself, except one bit. When driving for McLaren, Niki Lauda talks quite a bit on how biased McLaren was towards the other driver & how the team turned against him. This favoritism I have read about in other drivers' memoirs & it does make a bit of a mockery of McLaren often-stated equal opportunity policy.
But apart from that, what struck me is the determination you need to succeed into the pinnacle of Motorsport. You also need to be able to almost endlessly raise money to support your bid. Niki Lauda similarly to many others in Formula One started his career deeply in debt & in a way I am amazed that he made it given that his finances were incredibly hazardous more than once. I also like the way he went about making sure that he got what he wanted, which I think one can learn some lessons from even if one is not attempting to enter Formula One.
An incredible book.