The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport—A High-Octane History of Formula 1's Rise in America

In The Formula, Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg chronicle how Formula 1 broke through in the American sports market. The book takes readers inside the paddock to explore the culture of racing obsessives, engineers, drivers, and rivalries that transformed F1 into the world's fastest-growing sport. For decades, NASCAR dominated American car racing while Formula 1, despite being the wealthiest racing league globally, remained a distant third. Today, F1 has surged to prominence, driven by a passionate new American fanbase. Robinson and Clegg reveal how this success was far from inevitable, detailing the business story of how the league saved itself from collapse and conquered America through reinvention and strategic moves. The book offers access to F1's most storied teams and personalities, from Ferrari to Bernie Ecclestone to Lewis Hamilton to McLaren. It covers the Bernie Ecclestone era and his transformation of the sport into a billion-dollar empire, legendary rivalries from Senna vs. Prost to Hamilton vs. Verstappen, engineering innovations and technical breakthroughs, and F1's decades-long struggle to break into the American market. An updated edition includes the rise of McLaren.