Review: The World’s Greatest F1 Cars

Reviewing a DVD that has already been available for the best part of a decade? What’s that all about then?

Well there is some relevance in deciding to scrutinise The World’s Greatest F1 Cars, because thanks to a promotion between F1 Racing and Duke Video, it can be yours for the princely sum of £2.49. Not a massive amount, but hey, these are tough economic times and you need to watch every penny that you spend.

I can therefore confirm that, for less than the price of a pint of beer, The World’s Greatest F1 Cars is worthy of a place on your shelf.

There you go, review over.

Oh, you need more convincing?

Well your £2.49 gets you what is essentially a video encyclopaedia that covers the first 50 years of Formula One racing. The World’s Greatest F1 Cars begins with tales of the Bugatti T51 and the Delage GP and works its way through to the more sophisticated cars that featured at the turn of the millennium, such as the Ferrari F12000 and the Williams FW22.

The two hour main feature somehow manages to describe over 100 cars that have been driven into history. An impressive amount, and yes, it is very comprehensive. But it does suffer from information overload, something that’s not helped by the narration which is rather flat and wouldn’t sound out of place in a wartime documentary on the Yesterday TV channel.

It’s rather reminiscent of a really dull history lesson, one in which your attention begins to wander after just ten minutes. Frustratingly, you can’t help but feel that with someone like Murray Walker behind the mic, things would have been very different.

It also becomes rather monotonous seeing the same footage, albeit different car, swooping round Luffield at an historic meet at Silverstone, or working its way up St. Devote in Monaco. First time is novel, but it does become rather repetitive thirty times later.

Unfortunately, if it’s not a case of seeing a car navigating around the same piece of tarmac, it’s looking at a one parked up instead, leaving a lot to be desired. It would have been nice to see more footage of each car in action during the eras in which they dominated.

All of which makes The World’s Greatest F1 Cars sound like a load of old bobbins, and it would be, were it not for the fact you don’t have to actually sit through the entire main feature.

Thankfully some bright spark has made it possible to go straight to the footage of each of the grand prix cars that are highlighted. Not a revolutionary option in this history of DVD navigation, but it is something that stops this from becoming a glorified coaster in the process. Never before have I been so grateful for the wonders of chapters on a DVD.

As a trip down memory lane, The World’s Greatest F1 Cars does an amicable job. It follows the evolution of the F1 car very well, and providing you consume it in small doses, gives a good history lesson on the machinery that has made F1 what it is.

Rating: ★★★★★

The World’s Greatest F1 Cars is available to buy from Duke Video for £2.49