The Formula cover art

The Formula

How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport

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The Formula

By: Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
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Summary

 ** Shortlisted for Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Writing Award, 2025 **

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES' BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2024

'HANDS DOWN THE GREATEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN ABOUT F1.' -Sam Walker, author of The Captain Class
'MODERN F1 IS THE SPORTS STORY OF THIS ERA AND NO ONE COULD TELL IT BETTER' -Kevin Clark, ESPN
'THE FASTEST READ YOU WILL EVER PICK UP' -A.J. Baime, author of Go Like Hell

F1 is now the fastest growing sport in the world; the full story of its unbelievable rise is a riveting saga only hinted at by the likes of Drive to Survive. In this book - the first, definitive account of how F1 came to achieve total global fandom - Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg take us inside a world full of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, petrolheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers and bitter rivalries.

The story of F1's world dominance is one of near-constant transformation and experimentation. This is a sport where the only way to win championships is to land a series of technical moon shots - and then do it all over again. With fast cars, big money, beautiful people, and glamorous locations from Monaco to Melbourne, The Formula tells the full, epic story of the sport. Starting in 1950s Britain, where six years of wartime engineering laid the foundations for a new type of motorcar racing; to the first global star partnership of Senna and Ecclestone; Spygate; Crashgate and its transition into an entertainment juggernaut. Bringing unique insight and access to F1's most storied teams and personalities - from Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton to Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo -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, it is the tale of a commercial empire, one built in the 20th century, rendered almost obsolete in the early 21st, and re-emerged world-dominant today; a disrupter that claimed its place in the crowded sports marketplace through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.©2024 Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Motor Sports Sports Racing Money
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very good fore people that like f1 and it shows the other side of f1

gooe fore all fans

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Fascinating story about the history of the best sport in the world but the narrator was pretty annoying. It's not "Grands Prix" it's "Grand Prix", pronounced as "graun-pree". 🙄 There were quite a few mis-pronounciations in there but the "Grands Prix" one annoyed me the most. It would have been a total 5 star for me if it wasn't for the narrator in my opinion but brilliant book by the Authors nonetheless.

I'll be buying the paper copy as well 😁

Brilliant book but terrible pronounciations

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Fantastic history of F1, marred by what sounds like an AI reading, far too many mispronounced names. Still a great book overall

Great stuff

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As an F1 fan of many years I loved this book. Although I remember most of the numerous events mentioned, it shed new insight I wasn’t aware of and at no time became dull or boring. A great book for any f1 fan, be it a fanatic or casual. Read this, you won’t be disappointed.

Brilliant book

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I knew very little about F1 and was no Petrol Head. This book was on a Summer reading list and I thought I’d give it a go.
It’s succinct, well read and a fascinating story.

Gripping

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