The Formula - Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg

Feb 7, 2026

Taking down some notes about things that I learnt, observed while reading this book.

Bahrain pays millions per year to be 1st GP of the year. Still true??
Thousands of sensors on F1 car
Adrian Newey of Red Bull. Look into his contributions and his book as well.
Its all about air flow and weight. Which team understands aerodynamics better?
Computational fluid dynamics. Possible to get a overview of this field?
Ultimately one who has done more trial and error has more knowledge, ideas. (Adrian Newey)
F1 a sport of rule book
Speed of innovation becomes speed on track
Find grey areas in rule book which can be used for performance of car.
1950, at Silverstone Circuit near Northamptonshire, 1st F1 race
Colin Chapman, one of the first persons who applied aero plane concepts to F1 car
Fast on straights = More Power Fast on curves / everywhere = Less car weight
Race car = upside down airplane wing
Mid-engine design, moving engine behind the driver. Status quo was engine pulling you forward. Eg: Horse pulling cart.
Lotus racing team of CHapman. His Lotus 25, 79 in F1
So many deaths used to happen in F1.
Maranello, south of Modena, place of Ferrari. Ferrari also only team to participate in every F1 seasons
Ferrari 250, Dino, Testarotta
Ferrari Logo: Black horse used Italian fighter pilot in WW1, yellow of city Modena.
Enzo Ferrari, autobiography: My Terrible Joys
Ferrari selling to Fiat, Agnelli family. They did negotiate with Ford as well. – Read this in Iacocca book as well.
Niki Lauda, his inputs to make Ferrari car better for him to drive.
During 70s, 80s Ferrari’s obsession over horsepower instead of the other aspects of car.
Introduction of ground effects. Producing more down force, vertical aerodynamic force on the car to push it downwards. This makes it grip well on curves and gain speed.
Bernie Eccelstone, the Boss, his influence in F1. He started by selling cars and financing the load to buy them. His deal making skill. Made a lot of money for F1 and himself.
F1 teams were always short of money.
Phillip Morris - Marlboro cigarettes. His plan to get into Europe. Get into F1 first: starting by sponsoring drivers and then teams to wear the Marlboro logo
For a significant duration Bernie was in-charge of F1.
Ayrton Senna in his Mclaren. Senna’s perfect lap at Monaco GP qualifying. Senna was F1’s first global start
Ron Dennis at Mclaren.
Crucial elements of F1: racing, technology, finance, branding and commercial possibilities. Those who figured it out early and were able to leverage it were the ones who succeeded. Ron Dennis was one.
Mclaren, Ron Dennis, Marlboro. The partnership was a success.
Businesses of Mansour Ojjeh. His share in TAG. Also with Ron Dennis. TAG Heur, watch brand one of them.
McLaren’s approach, getting companies to build parts of the car for them and thus allowing them to place their logo on the car.
The MP4/4 car with its drastic down force. This allowed the car to go faster on curves and straights.
Vintage Lamborghini Miura.
Williams team with Frank Williams and Patrick Head.
Fitting a small computer in F1 car by Williams team.
Till 1990s, Ferrari was running on horsepower and history alone.
Having a wind tunnel for testing an advantage. Which teams have it and where?
Luca di Montezemolo, the man who turned Ferrari around.
It’s better to sell 1 car less than demand to protect exclusivity and brand image. Ferrari’s approach. A core tenant of luxury branding. You have to desire a Ferrari.
Schumacher, his approach to racing, fitness, diet, mental preparation. Testing out his cars (no test driver)
Ross Brawn at Ferrari and later at Honda / Brawn GP. Also has a book: Total Competition
Ferrari and its partnership with Bridgestone(Japanese tire maker) tyres.
Finding the proper race track in USA.
During Eccelstone’s time, any city / country willing to pay money and had space for a track could host a GP. This tells why gulf countries host GPs.
Monza circuit in Italy has held races since 1920s.
Visit all traditional circuits of F1 atleast once: Monza, Silverstone, Spa Francorchamps, Suzuka, Monte Carlo, etc. These are the heritage circuits.
Prince Rainier of Monaco, his contribution to making Monaco GP happen.
Monza and Monaco where the closest things in F1 to untouched heritage.
F1’s entry into Gulf countries started with Bahrain GP.
Qatar was known as American Air base.
7 kingdoms came together to form UAE in 1971. Initially there were 9 but 2 left. Qatar and Bahrain forming their own countries.
There was latent global populrity for F1. Where there was popularity, there was opportunity.
Overtime F1 became a distressed, undervalued asset. Things Vcs look out for.
If tobacco ads had to leave Europe, then F1 would pack its bags too.
Mclaren spying on Ferrari car design. Ferrari got to know about it through a photocopy shop owner in Surrey, UK(a ferrari fan)
Alonso and Hamilton at Mclaren. Their rivalry.
Number of times Ferrari has threatened to leave F1.
The concept of pay drivers in F1. Drivers who bring sponsorship money to the team and thus get a seat in the team.
Mercedes entry into F1 by buying Brawn GP team (Ross Brawn’s team)
Red Bull’s entry into F1 by buying Jaguar team from Ford.
Red bull co-owned by Yoovidhya family of Thailand and Dietrich Mateschitz of Austria.
Dietrich Mateschitz, co-owner of Red bull empire (drinks and sports)
Red bull, a Thai drink called Krating Daeng (thai for red water buffalo) for local truck drivers and laborers as hangover cure. Dietrich Mateschitz modified the drink to suit western taste buds and launched it as Red Bull.
Red bull created a new market category for energy drinks.
Red bull’s marketing strategy of extreme sports, youth culture, music festivals, etc.
Red bull and F1 a match made in heaven.
Energy station concept by Red bull.
Christain Horner, youngest team principal in F1 at Red Bull.
Doing things the Red bull way: unconventional methods, hiring young talent, risk taking, etc.
Chritian Horner taking Adrian Newey from McLaren to Red bull.
Mateschitz’s investment, Horner’s leadership, Newey’s design genius made Red bull a F1 powerhouse. Also Sebastian Vettel’s talent.
Toto Wolff, coming to Mercedes F1 team as co-owner and team principal.
Toto Wolff (Austrian) working with Mercedes( German) against Red bull (Austrian)
For a certain period, F1 became boring and inaccessible to its fans.
Then Liberty Media took over F1 from Bernie Eccelstone. Is this when Drive to Survive show started? Yes..
Liberty media’s approach to make F1 more accessible, fan friendly, digital, social media presence, etc. Target to capture younger audience, America and internet.
Liberty Media’s plan to turn F1 from niche European sport to global sport. Also increase its US presence.
Drive to Survice show by Netflix. Its impact on F1 popularity. Its season 2 timing with start of COVID.
Changing how F1 was viewed on TV. More cameras, more angles, more data shown on screen. Off-race footage as well.
Role of David Hill in changing how sports is broadcasted on TV. He was with Sky sports, then Fox sports, then F1 TV.
Drivers are the stars of F1.
Importance of race director: stop race, issue penalties, bring in safety car, etc. Eg: Michael Masi incident in 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.
Abu Dhabi GP 2021 was a thriller. Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton title decider.
“People spend aweful lot of money publizing things, and if you get all this publicity for free, it’s worth a lot of money.” – Bernie Eccelstone
Sometimes an F1 season was kind of boring.
F1 car runs for fans in different cities. To give fans a chance to see the car up close.
Return of major automotive brands to F1.
F1 movie.
Now you can be a F1 fan without watching the race.
Vegas race spectacle. Bellagio’s fountain Club. This was F1’s largest investment in a single race.
Most sought after demographic: Young men and women with money to burn. Applies to all businesses now.
Verstappen streaming his sim racing on Twitch.