Book Review: Inside Mercedes F1 - Life in the Fast Lane ??????????

Last week, I called into the wonderful Barn Owl Bookshop in Malmesbury to pick up a copy of ‘Inside Mercedes F1 – Life in the Fast Lane’ by Matt Whyman. (Sorry Amazon, I like the money to stay local).

The book tells the story of life behind the scenes at the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team during the 2023 F1 season. I spent nine years working with the team so I was intrigued to find out how Matt Wyman had constructed the narrative and whether it reflected what I saw and experienced in my time there.

The preface and first chapter includes a lot of scene-setting and background information about the team and the sport of F1. It quickly became clear this book is targeted at a much wider audience than just F1 aficionados. ?However, as the book went on, I found I was able to quickly skip over the basics and get stuck into the more interesting details.

The story is told against the backdrop of a various races across the 2023/24 season with the author focussing on individuals working within particular roles within the team – the mechanics, engineers, strategists, pit crew, logistics people, PR folks and of course, the drivers, before finishing with the boss himself, Toto Wolff. And the story isn’t just about their work; the author manages to capture the personalities and some of the personal backgrounds of the people in the team, their passions and the paths that brought them into the sport. I know many of these people and Matt Wyman’s portrayals are remarkably accurate, particularly with his description of the way Toto comes across when he is out of the media spotlight.

There’s a passage in the book where Matt Deane, the Chief Mechanic, says ‘There was a time when we were just winning, winning , winning. It reached a point where I would walk down the pitlane feeling bad for the other teams, I didn’t know where to look’. This really struck a chord with me; during my time with the team, we won eight consecutive World Constructor Championships. It was a wonderful time but I always had a feeling that this wasn’t a normal situation. The strength of this book is that it covers a period when the winning run is over and Mercedes F1 are on the back foot. This allows the author to weave in observations about the culture, determination and resilience of the team at a time of adversity throughout the narrative.

The book gives the reader an almost comprehensive look at how Mercedes F1 operates but does miss some of the other essential and equally interesting departments and people. The Commercial team who compete in the sponsorship market as fiercely as the drivers compete on the track, to bring in the sponsorship funding. The Legal team who are tenacious in the way they ensure the team remains legal and compliant, writing contracts and managing legal issues with ultimate dexterity. The Finance team who have to live in two accounting worlds – the commercial world and the world of the cost-cap. The HR team who recruit and look after the thousand plus employees on the Brackley site. The travel team who work miracles in getting people to races in far-flung parts of the world. There are others, all playing their part and without whom, the team would not function efficiently.

For those hoping for a ‘warts and all’ exposé, you will be disappointed; the final draft is very much on point from a team messaging perspective. That said, I really enjoyed this book and it brought back some great memories. I’d thoroughly recommend it for any F1 fan to get a great understanding of how a team works behind the scenes. And for anyone in a leadership role, this book will give you an insight into the culture, values, working practices and leadership styles that have made Mercedes F1 one of the most successful sports teams in the world – you will learn a lot!

Whilst this book focusses on the team in 2023, there are still some great stories from the championship years that remain to be told. Maybe that’s the next book, or Toto’s memoirs!