While NASCAR is my favorite motorsport, I do like to watch an occasional Formula 1 race and I LOVE to read anything I can on it. This book is one reason why F1 books are so good - this one deals mostly with the business side and it's fantastic. Here is my review of "The Formula."
Title/Author:
“The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 Into the World’s Fastest-Growing Sport” by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (Excellent)
Review: 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.
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