Wall Street Journal reporters and authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg tell the riveting saga of how Formula 1 broke through in America, detailing the eclectic culture of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, gearheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers, and bitter rivalries that have made F1 the world’s fastest growing sport.
For decades in America, car racing meant NASCAR, and to a lesser extent IndyCar, with Formula 1—the wealthiest racing league in the world—a distant third. Fast forward to 2023, and F1 has emerged at the front of the pack powered by a passionate yet nascent American fanbase. The F1 juggernaut has arrived, but this checkered flag was far from inevitable.
In The Formula, Robinson and Clegg tell the epic story of how F1 saved itself from collapse and finally conquered America through guile, fearlessness, and above all, reinvention. With fast cars, big money, glamorous locales, and beautiful people as the backdrop, The Formula reveals how F1’s sudden arrival in the US was actually decades in the making, a product of the sport’s near-constant state of transformation and experimentation. Bringing unique insight and access to F1’s most storied teams and personalities—from Ferrari to Bernie Ecclestone to Christian Horner to Lewis Hamilton—The Formula offers a riveting portrait of the drivers, corporations, cars, rivalries, and audacious gambles that have shaped the sport for half a century.
The end result is a high-octane history of how modern F1 racing came to be—the first book to tell the story of the outrageous successes and spectacular crashes that led F1 to this extraordinary yet precarious moment. More than just a sports story, The Formula is the tale of a disrupter that broke into the crowded American sports marketplace and claimed its place through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.
It would be incredibly easy for a book like this to become a hagiography of famous drivers, a greatest hits of indelible races or a dashed-off tribute to how a decades-old sport reinvented itself for Netflix and the social media era. "The Formula" avoids that trap by showing the seams in how the sport evolved from greasy garages to glass-panelled boardrooms, unafraid to point out the shady sides of F1 luminaries such as Bernie Ecclestone. It is a sport that, as they point out, is literally named after the rule book - but the stories of how the rules have been bent to the point of incredulity may be the most important sections of the decades-long story they tell. And their parting concern - that F1 may have become the first truly post-modern sport, with die-hard fans around the globe who have never even seen more than a TikTok video 's worth of a Grand Prix - is perceptive about the challenges ahead for the fastest show on earth. This may not be a *great book* - but it is a *great book about Formula 1.*
Overall, I liked this book but I noticed some small factual errors that make me a little wary of fully trusting the stories told in the book.
Bottas was referred to as an Estonian driver. Also, the authors say that no one has died on track in F1 since Senna's crash, which is I guess technically true, but it feels like a bit of a cop out when Jules Bianchi died as the result of an on-track incident (and his death is mentioned much later but not even by name).
I'm one of those people whose whole family caught the F1 bug thanks to DRIVE TO SURVIVE, and now we watch every race, qualifying and most practices. I'm also the type of person who, while interested in the drivers (#TeamLeClerc, #TeamAlonso, #TeamAnyoneButMax), is also a fascinated by the tech--Practice 1 is my favorite because that's often the subject--and the business behind F1. So THE FORMULA checked all the boxes for me. Indeed, it's a book that when I saw it on NetGalley I couldn't request it fast enough, so I"m glad the publisher gave me an early look. I was not disappointed.
The book ranges from the origins of F1 to the present, largely focusing on the cars and owners. It finally explained to me why Williams was so good for a while (they basically built the first computerized car, which made it handle better than any other), why Jenson Button won a championship (the double diffuser in his car gave him incredible grip), where Mercedes and Red Bull came from, and what it takes to win, whatever the tech in your car. The anecdote about why Christian Horner gave up racing himself might be the best explanation, especially when coupled with what makes Lewis so good; it might also be the only moment of humility in Christian's life. The explanation of why Ferrari has long struggled is very good, says the person who is wearing a Ferrari shirt at this moment. The chapter about Spygate was fascinating; I had no idea. And the book made me better appreciate speed through the flats versus handling in the corners. Overall THE FORMULA pairs up well with GAME OF EDGES and probably the authors' book on the Premier League, which I now have to read (#TeamLiverpool).
If the book has any problem it's that it's only an overview and a bit once over lightly in places, but given that the book's meant to be an overview for the millions of new American F1 fans, that's also kind of a plus. It does the job it's meant to do, and the writing's engaging. A solid performer.
Formula 1 racing has long been a staple of the sports environment in Europe for several decades. However, it had trouble attracting fans in the United States until a Netflix show about the sport called “Drive to Survive” was shown during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. How the sport got to that point, and what has taken place since to make it grow as fast as the subtitle suggests, is documented in this excellent book by Wall Street Journal writers Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg.
This book, as the authors state in the beginning, is not a detailed history of the sport in which race results are chronicled, drivers and crews are not provided detailed biographies and details about season results are not recapped here. Instead, this book provides many excellent stories and illustrations on the business side of the sport from its early history to its current popularity that has grown from the Netflix exposure.
While biographies are not a main source of information in this book, the authors do a terrific job of portraying some of the biggest names in the sport, both on the business side and some of its most famous drivers. For the latter, there is an entire chapter on Michael Schumacher, considered by some to be the greatest driver in the history of F1. A good portrait of the best driver in the 1990’s, Ayrton Senna is also done well. It is short mainly because Senna died in a 1994 crash. Then there are the two current superstars, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Their personalities and excellence on the road are both well-written and compelling reading.
As good as these are, however, the best parts of the book are when Robinson and Clegg are writing about the business side of the sport, complete with complex rule changes, back-room dealings, television contracts that are written mainly to only line the pockets of the leaders and so much more. Personalities here are described in even better prose than described above on the drivers. Enzo Ferrari, Bernie Ecclestone and Colin Chapman are just three of the many personalities that make F1 history fascinating, and the authors do a fantastic job of describing their influence on the sport.
The sport has also had various controversies through the years and some of the most bizarre ones are covered here as well. One that particularly caught my interest was “Spygate.” NFL fans may know about their own “Spygate” in which Bill Belichick was recording practice sessions of another team. That Spygate is mild compared to F1’s version. In that, a disgruntled engineer from Team Ferrari handed over documents to the McLaren engineering team that covered everything – something that nothing in American sports can compare to. Including the fines – the Patriots’ fine from the NFL is peanuts compared to what came down from F1 officials. There are other incidents, including a deliberate crash by a mediocre driver to allow his teammate to win a championship, that are mind-boggling and fantastic reading.
No matter your interest in F1, or even motorsports, this is a book that anyone will enjoy reading. Just like how Liberty Media, the latest owners of the F1 brand, made fans out of people who have never watched race thanks to a popular streaming show, this book may make a reader take interest in a sport that they may never have had any knowledge about before opening to the first page.
I wish to thank Mariner Books for providing a review copy. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
Before I got ahold of this book, I considered Formula 1 to be a playground for a bunch of rich a-holes. My local booksellers encouraged me to think with an open mind and take a look. Now I think that this is a very entertaining book about a bunch of rich a-holes. The technical stuff gets a little hard to follow, and this particular sport just doesn't register the way others do, primarily because it doesn't feel very relatable or within my price range. But the authors play out the history and behind the scenes drama well. I'm glad I read it. Everyone...trust your booksellers!! They are good people.
I’m not really a sports person, but love good scandal. I picked this up because my son is into F1 and thought it would help me learn about the races he stays up to 2am to watch. You don’t have to be into racing to get into this story. It’s full of near cheating, actual cheating, industrial espionage, and race rigging. If you love scandals, I recommend this one.
I mentioned to my son I was reading this book and that F1 was full of dirt bags. His reply was “yeah, that’s kinda what they’re about.”
If you’re a huge F1 fan you may find this to be too high-level, but for someone who knew nothing about it prior to reading, it was great. Engaging but didn’t feel like faux dramatization — recommend!!
Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg have done it again, sharing the dramas, trials, and villains of the business behind Europe's biggest sports. As a newer EPL fan I devoured “The Club”, so when I saw “The Formula” was coming I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. They have a way of telling a story in a way that makes sense both chronologically and narratively, reading like both a history textbook and a fiction novel. I loved this book, despite knowing about 75% of it already (still haunted by AD 2021) I still found myself every so often thinking “huh I didn’t know that!”. A really fun read for anyone who’s been a fan of Formula 1 for 50 years or 5 minutes, or any American sports fan in general who still doesn’t understand the F1 hype.
Book review: This book was so well written and I give props to the authors for fitting almost a century of history in this crisp 300 pages, this book read like fiction because it was so fun and always had so many things going on. Making all the politics, business and engineering digestible was such a feat and I’m so impressed I loved this book.
Personal review/rant: Like many, I was enamored with F1 a couple years ago when Drive to Survive came out, I was watching all the race highlights and driver interviews on YouTube, downloaded the F1 app to keep track of all my favorites and even looked into the history of my favorite teams. But as this book mentions F1 was “impenetrably exclusive” and even with everything they’ve done to bring it to America it was still lacking and when I stopped following in 2021/22 it felt like so many things happened and I felt was too far behind to catch up. In recent years many have embraced it wholeheartedly but now it’s hard to find “kind of” fans - it feels like it’s only diehard fans who get up at the crack of dawn to watch races or people who couldn’t care less about it. Finding myself somewhere in the middle I stopped paying attention but we’ll see if this book inspires me to get back into it.
I'll admit I got into Formula 1 via Drive to Survive, and it did grow beyond just the show. To get to read about the history of the sport along with the way that the business operated/currently operates was incredibly fascinating.
Each chapter is broken down really well, and while some are a bit more dense than others (I don't have a business background lol) they still were super digestible and stayed engaging even if I had to reread something.
Something that was really interesting to me was just how much F1 struggled to adapt and change with technology while it simultaneously was able to embrace it. Being a relatively new fan to F1 to also hear about how modern F1 operates and the reaction to that is so interesting and I wish it went into it a bit more but I also think that's just a super vast discussion that goes beyond just this one sport.
Overall, I'd say this is 100% worth the read to anybody who already likes F1, likes just Drive to Survive or is my dad who does not like Formula 1 (he said he would read this so I'm holding him to it).
Incredible book for F1 fans. A little wordy and droll for non fans probably. But I loved it!
It’s comprehensive, making it so easy for new fans to understand the complex history that brought F1 to the height of popularity today. I learned about the founder of modern F1 (Bernie) and the technical powerhouse of Brawn on the grid and the rise of McLaren and the infamous rivalry between Senna and Prost!!!!!
I implicitly knew that the current commercialized version of F1 (DTS, Vegas GP, all the bells and whistles) was DIFFERENT than what I grew up seeing on my parents’ tv, but I had no clue that it was directly caused by the buyout of Bernie by Liberty Media in 2017..! Ugh.
Also I’ve grown to loveeeeeeee Max now. He and Hamilton are two drivers that I am proud to see as WDCs in my time as a fan. Now time for Lando and Charles! ;)
Yeah I don’t recommend if you don’t like F1. But if you DO, it was my bread and butter!
The first lot of the book is amazing, sinking your teeth into the old-school formula one story is amazing, the. It gets on to drive to survive and the Abu-Dhabi eras and it's just a drag.... Been a fan for about 15 years since I was 10 and the meteoric change that F1 has seen in the last 3 years or so has been good to bring in a new audience and generation but the ever changing and shortening attention span is really starting to show and it's highlighted in these 2 chapters! The first 225 pages are great, just give the rest a miss.
A good mix of stories and characters that shaped the business, the drivers and technology behind formula 1. It always held the notion of a story to tell rather than a collection of facts. Kudos to the writers for making the book enjoyable and accessible for someone not knowledgeable about formula 1. It had enough detail to explain without going overboard yet kept a great narrative. The time line did jump a little around but I think that was necessary to give each chapter a complete story. Great book.
This is how F1 would be taught in a high school history class: all broad strokes and neatly trimmed off threads to make for a tidy story. It's a great entry into it's history, but like with high school, if you delve much deeper, you'll find out that there is more to nearly every story they tell.
Really enjoyed the read, although the audiobook narrator over pronounces names and "GrandS Prix" in a distracting way. Thrown by a few errors, like the description of what causes porpoising, and calling Bottas Estonian.
This rating is slightly biased by my love for F1. The author does a great job of explaining the history of F1 and how it has developed over the years. It goes into the back ground fights and many of the controversies over the years. It does a nice job of tying it into modern F1 stating a fairly factual view. For anyone wanting to learn more about how F1 started, the key players, and where it might be headed this is a great book.
Maybe if I was a bigger Formula1 fan I would have enjoyed this better, but as someone who is merely “Formula curious”, 50% of this book was like watching paint dry. Some engineer finds a loophole in the rules, they exploit them and dominate competition, then the rules get changed ending the exploit…rinse and repeat over and over again for 70 years.
Super interesting retelling of some of the best events in a very historically (and financially) rich sport! Extremely well written and very engaging overall!! Would highly recommend to any F1 fan!
This book is a feat of incredible interviews, historical synthesis, and case studies of multiple eras in the history of Formula 1. It is charming, funny, and insightful - for gearheads, marketing gurus, and F1 fans alike. Most surprising, it is deftly written and entertaining, reflecting the authors' wry sense of humor and breadth of research.
A fascinating look at some of the key figures and pivotal moments in the history of Formula 1 racing. A great read that I recommend to both hardcore and casual fans of the sport.
Very good look at Formula 1 racing behind the scenes. One nitpick: odd that they refer to the racing driver Valtteri Bottas as Estonian, when in fact he is Finnish. Recommended for fans of "Drive to Survive" on Netflix.
Excellent primer for people new to watching the sport, and an enjoyable read for oldheads as a behind-the-curtain look at how the sport’s empires were built (and in some cases, fell). F1 is full of bananas interpersonal drama, and Robinson and Clegg excel at making the reader feel like they’re watching it all unfold firsthand.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
THE FORMULA is about the different times in which Formula 1 evolved and showed innovation that made it popular today. Starting with the mess that affected Mercedes at the Bahrain 2022 testing was a genius move. Ending the book with Abu Dhabi 202 (IFYKYK) was another stroke of genius. The epilogue is about the Las Vegas 2023 GP which wasn’t included in this copy. I’m going to search for a complete copy so I can read what the authors say about it. If how they laid out other things is any indication, I’ll probably agree with them.
This book is laid out like a part history/part business text that was never boring. In fact, there was so much going on that I was appreciative when the authors would remind the reader who someone was or what else was going on at that time.
If you’re a fan of how the sausage is made when it comes to Formula 1, you’ll be fascinated by this.
This was a great read, whether you’re an F1 veteran fan or are just diving in. The narrative was setup well, breaking the chapters down by team then bringing it full circle to what F1’s become in the modern day. I appreciated that this wasn’t just a history of the drivers but also that of team principles, movers and shakers behind the scenes, and the gearheads who made it all happen.