Autocourse

Autocourse is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectable.

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History

The first edition of Autocourse appeared in 1951, as a quarterly review of motorsport, initially with each article in four languages. Its aims were "to provide the most complete data obtainable with interesting and authentic information, settle arguments and provide countless hours of interesting study and amusement." In 1957 a change of publisher saw the title change to 'Autocourse - For Motoring Sportsmen' and then as 'Autocourse and Sporting Motorist' until 1959. The first Autocourse in annual form was published in 1959 as a paperback. The first hardback annual was 1961/62 which continues to this day. In 1963, Jim Clark started the tradition of the F1 World Champion writing the foreword for the annual, a tradition only broken in 1991, when Senna refused following a dispute over the annual's Top Ten drivers.
Starting in 1966, the annual's editor has chosen the Top Ten F1 drivers of each season. In 1991, the Formula One Review was changed into a team-by-team format. In 2000, Autocourse celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 2005, Bryn Williams took on the publishing of the annual with Crash Media Group, who purchased the series from Hazleton Publishing.
In late 2009, CMG confirmed a deal to sell on the title to Icon Publishing.

Format

Title pages

The front cover features a full-scale photograph of that year's F1 championship-winning driver in his car, underneath the distinctive yellow "Autocourse" title. In 1976, a drawing by Michael Turner was also used. In 1994 and 1995, three photos were used on the front cover. The interior title page often features the runner-up, or another photograph of note.

Foreword

This has been written by the newly crowned champion since 1963 and is accompanied by their signature. There have been only two exceptions. The first was in 1991, when Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the chief of Honda's F1 engine programme, wrote it instead of Ayrton Senna, after Senna was not acclaimed the Number One driver in the annual the previous year, despite winning the title.
The second occasion was in 2023 when the foreword was penned by Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner.

Editor's introduction

This is a page or so of material which summarises the year in motor racing from the editor's point of view. For the 50th anniversary edition in 2000, the publisher, Richard Poulter, also wrote a brief introduction.

Top ten drivers

The annual states that these top ten F1 drivers are "chosen by the editor, taking into account their racing performances and the equipment at their disposal". This has been a feature of Autocourse since 1966. Drivers who do not complete the whole season are not usually eligible to be included in the list, although exceptions have been made.

List of number one drivers

1966 – Jim Clark
1967 – Jim Clark
1968 – Jackie Stewart
1969 – Jackie Stewart
1970 – Jackie Stewart
1971 – Jackie Stewart
1972 – Jackie Stewart
1973 – Jackie Stewart
1974 – Emerson Fittipaldi
1975 – Niki Lauda
1976 – Niki Lauda
1977 – Niki Lauda
1978 – Niki Lauda
1979 – Alan Jones
1980 – Alan Jones
1981 – Alan Jones
1982 – none
1983 – Nelson Piquet
1984 – Alain Prost
1985 – Alain Prost
1986 – Alain Prost
1987 – Alain Prost
1988 – Ayrton Senna
1989 – Nigel Mansell
1990 – Alain Prost
1991 – Ayrton Senna
1992 – Nigel Mansell
1993 – Ayrton Senna
1994 – Damon Hill
1995 – Michael Schumacher
1996 – Michael Schumacher
1997 – Jacques Villeneuve
1998 – Michael Schumacher
1999 – Heinz-Harald Frentzen
2000 – Michael Schumacher
2001 – Michael Schumacher
2002 – Michael Schumacher
2003 – Michael Schumacher
2004 – Michael Schumacher
2005 – Fernando Alonso
2006 – Fernando Alonso
2007 – Lewis Hamilton
2008 – Lewis Hamilton
2009 – Jenson Button
2010 – Sebastian Vettel
2011 – Sebastian Vettel
2012 – Fernando Alonso
2013 – Sebastian Vettel
2014 – Lewis Hamilton
2015 – Lewis Hamilton
2016 – Lewis Hamilton
2017 – Lewis Hamilton
2018 – Lewis Hamilton
2019 – Lewis Hamilton
2020 - Lewis Hamilton
2021 - Max Verstappen
2022 - Max Verstappen
2023 - Max Verstappen
2024 - Max Verstappen

Obituaries

Obituaries of persons involved in motorsport who have died during the past year. The 2008 edition included obituaries for Phil Hill, Ove Andersson, Paul Newman and Jean-Marie Balestre, among a few others. As Autocourse is published before the end of the year, persons who died at the end of the year are listed in next publication, for example the obituary of Clay Regazzoni was in the 2007 edition.

Formula One features

There are usually some in-depth articles on various F1 topics; e.g., rule changes. These are usually written by well-known motor racing journalists, for example Nigel Roebuck.

Formula One review

This is the main section of the annual. Before 1991, this consisted of an in-depth analysis of the season as a whole, followed by technical reviews of each team and chassis specifications.

Team-by-Team

From 1991 onwards, the Formula One review was organised in a team-by-team format, with the analysis, specifications, an illustration of each car and photos of the relevant drivers in a single team's section.

Grands Prix

This is the longest section of the annual, and contains a report on each Grand Prix in the Formula One season, including qualifying, photos, comprehensive results and sidebars for more in-depth news stories.

Points and percentages

This consists of the full results table for the season, featuring each driver and accompanied since 1996 by a group photo of all the drivers in one of the Grands Prix. Other statistics are also given, such as overall career details for each driver and their average qualifying position over the season.

Other categories

Every year, a review of junior single seater formulae is included, as well as reports on the year's international sports car racing, and the American racing scene. The current annuals are over 300 pages long.

Sister publications

Aside from one-off driver and team biographies branded as Autocourse publications, there are also five other annuals: Rallycourse, which covers rallying.Motocourse, which covers motorcycle road racing.Autocourse Indycar / CART / Champ Car Yearbook, which covers American open-wheel car racing.Autocourse Indianapolis 500 & Indy Racing League Official Yearbook.Autocourse British Motorsport Year which covers the British Touring Car Championship and other major British motor racing series.