The Formula

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 sports business in the world, and a multi-billion-dollar global media juggernaut. But how exactly did it get there?

Highly respected Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg uncover the full epic story of how F1 came to achieve total global fandom. Bringing unique insight and access to the sport's most storied teams and personalities - from Ferrari to Bernie Ecclestone to Christian Horner, Daniel Ricciardo, and Lewis Hamilton - they delve into the world of big money, beautiful people, intense feuds and audacious gambles, all set across a backdrop of the world's most glamorous locations.

The result is the first definitive account of the business of F1 - not just the cars and the races, but the drama, the deals, and the financial operation that underpins it all. It's the tale of a commercial empire: one built in the 20th century, rendered almost obsolete in the early 21st, and that has re-emerged world dominant today.