It's a business where the rules change constantly and even people with PhDs in aerospace engineering can't always figure them out. If soccer became the world's most popular sport because it requires no translation, then F1 is the opposite. Making sense of it can seem like it requires graduate-level physics.
- Joshua Robinson
The Formula is the 7th book I have read this year, and it seems unlikely that I’ll hit my target of 12 books. Formula One isn’t a sport I’m unfamiliar with, but I’ve never been particularly interested in it, probably due to its exclusivity in its early years. Before reading this book, my knowledge of F1 was limited to a few things:
1. Ferrari, of course.
2. I have watched the movie Rush.
3. I know the legend Michael Schumacher and his unfortunate accident.
4. A former colleague at my internship was a huge F1 fan.
Like many of my other reads, I found The Formula on Goodreads and decided to give it a go.
The Formula delves into the rich history of Formula One, both on the sporting and business sides. On the sporting side, it covers the early champions like Juan Manuel Fangio and Alain Prost, to modern stars like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Iconic teams such as Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull are central to the narrative. On the business side, it traces the evolution of Formula One’s commercial model—from the era of Bernie Ecclestone’s iron grip over the sport to Liberty Media’s more modern, expansive vision. It’s a transformation from an era of only 7 Grands Prix to today’s nearly 24-race global calendar, shifting from a largely European focus to a truly global presence.
The book reads like the story of an empire—except this empire, instead of collapsing after its peaks and troughs, continues to find new heights. Under Liberty’s management, Formula One has once again surged to new success. The core spirit of the sport - the relentless pursuit of excellence, the obsession with speed, innovation, and squeezing out every fraction of a second -remains while everything else has evolved.
For instance, Formula One has significantly broadened its audience. What was once a highly exclusive, niche sport is now reaching younger and more diverse global fans. The marketing of Formula One has undergone a major shift—from a time when no recordings were allowed, to today’s open collaboration with streaming platforms, such as the Drive to Survive series on Netflix, which has become hugely successful. This shift reflects a broader theme in another book, What I learned about investing from Darwin, I am reading— a robust businesses can maintain their core strengths while constantly evolving internally to stay relevant.
My biggest takeaway from The Formula is how Formula One’s history mirrors that of many industries and businesses. Without disruptive innovation and continual evolution, F1 would likely not exist in its current form. Time and again, both the sport and its teams have reached breaking points, seemingly on the edge of falling apart. Yet, there has always been a hero—an innovator—who steps in to save it.
The Formula is indeed not just a great read for Formula One fans but for anyone interested in how businesses and industries navigate cycles of reinvention and survival. It also leaves me wondering: What will happen next to Formula one?