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Formula 1 lost one of its greatest figures earlier this year when Murray Walker passed away aged 97 on March 13.
After heroics of a different kind in the Second World War, Walker would provide unmatched enthusiasm and knowledge in his commentary that would allow F1 to grow beyond what was ever thought possible.
His role in shaping F1 into a global behemoth that TV companies will pay billions to have the rights to air nowadays, cannot be understated.
And yet Walker was never one to blow his own trumpet so his autobiography Murray Walker: Unless I’m very much mistaken – released one year after he stepped down from full-time commentary at the 2001 United States Grand Prix – could never do enough justice to just how transformative Walker was.
The autobiography is an excellent first-hand account of a distinguished life through WW2, his highly successful advertising career and of course, his time as the voice of F1, and it’s a must-read for any F1 fan.
But given the humble of nature of Walker, it was always going to need a book written by somebody else to fully do justice to his remarkable career.
And that’s what Maurice Hamilton attempts to do with his new book Murray Walker Incredible! which releases this Thursday.
Hamilton has been an F1 journalist since 1977, is the writer of the detail-rich Autocourse grand prix annuals and his research-heavy books are regularly referenced in The Race’s Bring Back V10s podcast.
He was also a friend and colleague of Walker and is among those best placed to speak about his life.
The 288-page book is informed by dozens of interviews with those closest to Murray – some recorded following Murray’s passing and some archive interviews from Murray himself and others who have since passed.
Walker’s final regular co-commentator Martin Brundle contributes the foreword and is credited by Hamilton as one of the two biggest influences on the book.
Walker and Brundle bringing F1 to ITV after decades of it airing on the BBC forms one of the numerous topics recalled in the book.
There’s no real major surprises topic-wise for anybody who has read Walker’s own autobiography and this book acts almost as a sequel or as an extra follow-up for those wanting more – the book even ends with a ‘Murrayisms’ section just like the autobiography.
It’s also considerably smaller than Walker’s weighty autobiography which is an advantage in the way that Hamilton’s can be read in a few hours and is a cleaner read, but a disadvantage in that some areas of Walker’s life are left out or undeveloped compared to Walker’s own account.
Where the book truly shines are the tributes and recollections from those around Walker during his time in motorsport.
Whether it’s 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill, former BBC and ITV F1 commentator Tony Jardine or long-time F1 producer Mark Wilkin, the first-hand insights add even more character to Walker’s story and contextualise his achievements better than his own autobiography.
As Brundle himself says in the foreword “he had a kind and supportive word for everyone in the business”, which also means there were very few bad words for anyone in his own book.
Hamilton is able to look more objectively at Murray’s achievements and some of his more difficult moments – such as his challenging but iconic commentary partnership with James Hunt.
Hamilton is fair to both sides of the polar opposite commentary pair, not hiding Walker’s own shortcomings or insecurities, but in doing so he only makes you appreciate Walker even more.
The tagline of the book reads ‘a tribute to a Formula 1 legend’ and ultimately that’s exactly what this book succeeds in being.
It’s bursting with tributes, insight and love for one of F1’s giants, and that makes it well worth a read.
