Varying accounts of the life of Jacques the lad

Derick Allsop casts a critical eye over the best motor racing books

Jacques Villeneuve's dramatic impact on Formula One is about to be reflected in a race for book buyers. The in-house, glossy, lavishly illustrated offering is out of the pits ahead of the publication that has got the driver's camp hot under the collar, The New Villeneuve by Tim Collings (Bloomsbury).

While Collings endeavours to reveal the "warts and all" story of Jacques the lad, Villeneuve: My First Season In Formula One (Collins Willow, pounds 20) written for the Canadian driver by Gerald Donaldson, charts a safer course, race by race to second place in the world championship behind his Williams-Renault team-mate, Damon Hill.

Villeneuve represents the new generation in Formula One, a cavalier, unceremonious individual intent on conveying that very image. "I prefer people who are genuine and I try to be that myself," he says. "I wouldn't like to feel I was obliged to conform."

The 25-year-old former IndyCar champion has been enthusiastically embraced by some of the younger grand prix drivers. David Coulthard has welcomed him as a breath of fresh air, saying even Michael Schumacher has been charmed and influenced by him.

There is little doubt Villeneuve has earned Schumacher's respect. His combative style was spectacularly characterised by the manoeuvre which took him round and past the German's Ferrari in Portugal. Villeneuve had suggested to his crew he might employ the oval-style tactic, and was quickly on the radio to tell them: "You see, it worked!"

The respect between Villeneuve and Schumacher is mutual. "While some drivers tend to get flustered and make mistakes in close encounters, others, like Michael Schumacher, know exactly what they are doing," Villeneuve says. No direct comparison with Hill and, indeed, Villeneuve congratulates the Englishman on his "deserved" title success and portrays an excellent working relationship. And yet, you are left wondering.

Another candidate for Formula One's Crazy Gang is Eddie Irvine and, with help from Maurice Hamilton, the Ulsterman recounts his first season with Ferrari, as well as earlier days, in Green Races Red (Collins Willow, pounds 14.99).

Irvine, too, can give the impression he works at being "natural". And, in common with other members of the gang, he does not have a particularly high regard for Hill. He is critical of the way Hill handled the ill-fated negotiations for a new contract with Williams, and agrees with those who feel he is no match for Schumacher. "Nobody in equal equipment could beat Schumacher. There are a couple of drivers who could take him on in slightly superior cars but, even then, I don't think Damon is the man."

Irvine has taken a pragmatic approach to life as Schumacher's No 2. He accepts it, just as he accepts his team-mate's pre- eminence. If, however, the Williams is still beyond reach next season and Heinz-Harald Fren-tzen handles the pressure, Irvine believes Frentzen "will walk it".

In Irvine, The Luck Of The Irish (Patrick Stephens, pounds 9.99), Adam Cooper, like Collings, develops his own picture without direct assistance from the driver concerned.

n Derick Allsop's book, Michael Schumacher: the Formula for Success (Ebury Press, pounds 17.99), will be reviewed in next Monday's sports section.