So Sebastian Vettel has wrapped up Formula 1 championship number four (and more importantly has been crowned BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year), F1 godfather Bernie Ecclestone is in the High Court fighting a corruption civil suit, legendary team boss Ross Brawn has left Mercedes after losing absolute power and the usual merry-go-round of drivers in and out of teams has begun. Never a dull moment at the pinnacle of motor racing…
It’s hard to keep up with such a fast-moving sport, which is why we like to drop in on Henry The Podiumist to get the inside track on racing matters, go behind the scenes in the paddock and breathe for a moment the same rarefied air as the millionaire playboy drivers. Henry’s Formula 1 lifestyle magazine has got everything covered including team news, race summaries, driver profiles as well as some offbeat features on the lesser reported aspects of life on the F1 tour.
In addition to up-to-the-minute news, Henry takes us on a supercharged lap around memory lane with his Legends profiles. Juan Manuel Fangio belongs to that transcendent group of drivers from bygone days that even non-motorsport fans can reel off. The first superstar of racing, the Argentinian started off as a mechanic, but when he swapped life under the bonnet for that behind the wheel, no-one could catch him – not even Death who stalked the fledgling sport and claimed the lives of more than 30 of Fangio’s friends and rivals.
Quite old for a driver, bald, coming from modest country stock, Fangio was a far cry from the modern stars, and certainly a far cry from another of Henry’s Legends: François Cevert. Born in occupied France in the final year of World War Two, Cevert had it all. The Press dubbed him “The Prince” – the son of a well-to-do family, he was handsome, talented and blessed with an enigmatic charisma which had renowned beauties of the day like Brigitte Bardot allegedly falling into his arms. A classically trained pianist, the middle class Cevert rebelled against his parent’s wishes, was thrown out of the family home and scraped a living as a door-to-door salesman before forging a career in racing – a career that was cut short by a fatal crash at the American Grand Prix in 1973.
The magazine offers plenty of insight into the lives and lifestyles of the modern driver as well as heroes of past eras. It’s a different and ever-changing world in Formula 1, and to to help navigate the thrilling twists and turns there’s no one better than Henry The Podiumist.
Photography courtesy Henry, The Podiumist
