Review: Autosport Legends: Senna

A new word entered my vocabulary this week, courtesy of Autosport: bookazine.

The more astute among you will probably have already guessed what a “bookazine” is, and no, it’s not some word coined by drunken Germans. It’s what you get when you mix a book with – you guessed it – a magazine, and focus on a particular subject matter. So there you go, you’ve learnt something new today.

Coinciding with the home release of the biopic Senna; Autosport’s first foray into the world of bookazines hit the magazine racks this week with their 172-page special on the perhaps the greatest racing driver of all time: Ayrton Senna.

The triple World Champion’s amazing F1 career and extraordinary life is retold in glorious detail, thanks to some delving into Autosport’s enormous archives.

Featuring classic races, revealing interviews, and a technical glance at the trio of cars that brought him title glory, Autosport Legends: Senna provides a fascinating glimpse into his drive, determination and emotional make-up.

It’s not just a simple cut and paste of articles from yesteryear though, as Autosport’s Grand Prix editor Mark Hughes re-examines the Brazilian’s talents with the benefit of hindsight – a well-balanced piece that analyses the complexities and contradictions of a man who believed he was made by God to win Grands Prix.

For me the highlight of Senna comes towards the end of the publication, where the drivers who lined up alongside him on the grid of his tragic final race give an emotional account of that fateful day in Imola. It’s an amazing recollection and one that reminds us that racing drivers are only human beings after all.

Priced £5.99 and available from WH Smith (or £4.99 in digital format via Zinio), Senna represents excellent value for money. It would perhaps benefit by more content from a contemporary standpoint, but that’s a pretty minor gripe in the scheme of things. Otherwise, it does a brilliant job of capturing the aspects of Senna’s life and reveals to the reader what made him the man he was.

Rating: ★★★★★