The 1960s were the golden age of Formula 1. It was the time when race tracks weren’t artifacts created on the computer, but wild slopes that were carved directly into the landscape like the old Nürburgring. Back then, the spectators stood directly on the track and could see the drivers’ faces and feel the vibrations of the engines.
Instead of global corporations, racing teams competed against each other, and the pilots were non-conformist, angular characters who drank and smoked right next to their vehicles. At that time a shepherd like Jim Clark could become world champion. After the races, the pilots left unshielded in their own entourage, they celebrated together – more excessively than the party raves of later generations.
The crazy innocence of Formula 1
The 160 photos by Rainer Schlegelmilch bring this era back to life. It shows the natural impartiality of a horsepower madness, in which better soapboxes were accelerated to 250 kilometers per hour and only one meter away from the spectators sped over uneven slopes.
“Whenever a wheel of my own car overtakes me, I know that I’m in a Lotus,” joked Graham Hill about the inadequacies of his vehicle. The pilots were heroes and an ideal embodiment of the cool sixties. There was no security. Even fire-retardant underwear and full-face helmets went too far for a purist like Stilring Moss. Uninhibitedly, he pulled on the regrowing warm-showerers and wimps.
Death on the slopes
It was also a dangerous time, with at least one pilot losing his life every season. A highly motorized madness from which today’s commercial racing circus still draws its aura. “I have often asked myself: Can you love a sport that kills its best?” Schlegelmilch asked himself frequently, but has always remained loyal to the sport since he first brought his camera to the racetrack in 1962. In the band, legendary pilots like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Dan Gurney, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, Jochen Rindt and Jacky Ickx stand up again. In every photo, Rainer Schlegelmilch shows something like the youthful era of racing: the improvised, the imperfect and the tremendous vitality of the people behind the sport. The first picture shows taped racing shoes on a tire.
In the foreground of the heavy volume are the photos by Rainer Schlegelmilch, the captioning of the images is in English. The publisher’s concept of printing the introductory texts in several languages means that the amount of text is very small. Nevertheless, one should not carelessly skip the second foreword by Hartmut Lehbrink. In just a few pages, Lehbrink outlines a wonderful picture of the atmosphere in Formula 1 in the sixties.
The Golden Age of Formula 1, Small Edition – Rainer W. Schlegelmilch – 24.90 euros