Formula 1 Drive to Survive Unofficial Companion & The Pinnacle

Whether you are a new or longtime Formula 1 fan, here is your ultimate, unofficial armchair companion to the popular Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive, providing deeper insight into the players, tech, and history that drive the show’s plot points.

F1 expert Stuart Codling is your guide to all things F1. The Formula 1 Drive to Survive Unofficial Companion is a feature-rich guide that takes you beyond the series’ personalities and off-track drama to present further context. Topics covered include:
 

• People – Who does what to keep F1 teams rolling? From personal trainers to race engineers, mechanics, pit crew, and team principal, what does it take to succeed in F1? Sidebars and callouts include significant past players and great rivalries including that between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner.
• F1 History in 20 Cars – From Fangio’s postwar Alfa Romeo to Max Verstappen’s Honda-powered Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, all the great teams feature: Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Lotus, and more. Callouts features driver gear and great past drivers like Andretti, Brabham, Moss, Schumacher, and more.
• Technology – Who designs and builds today’s mind-bending cars and engines and what does the process entail? Side journeys explore safety features, technology behind key components, and big ideas that flopped.
• F1 Circuits – A look at F1 race course in today, along with features on circuit design, past circuits, and notorious circuit features like Loew’s Hairpin at Monaco and Eau Rouge at Spa Francorchamps.
• Race Strategy – The rules and strategies of race day. Sidebars explore things like tire strategy, the anatomy of a pit stop, and the role of analytics.
• Business – Who pays for the multibillion-dollar spectacle on display in Drive to Survive and how is it possibly profitable? Features and callouts explore the evolution of sponsorship, driver salaries, and backroom deals.

As Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc battle it out head-to-head in the most hotly contested championship in years, this in-depth book, with a foreword from Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, tells the story of how the sport evolved into the exhilarating high octane spectacle it is today.

The new rules introduced in 2022 signal the greatest change to F1 in a generation, cracking the field wide open and seeing some of the most compelling and competitive races in the last 25 years.

Technical changes aimed at levelling the playing field for the teams combined with the sport’s tightening budget cap have made the races closer than ever. There will be more sprint races — trialled in 2021 — and greater fan interest driven by Netflix’s hugely successful ‘Drive to Survive’ series.

So, how did we get here? How did F1 become the acknowledged ‘Pinnacle of Motorsport’? Simon Arron and Tony Dodgins have identified the 100 most significant changes to the series since its inception in 1950. Formula One is unrecognizable from its debut season, where drivers raced around on old bomber training aerodrome in Northamptonshire with oil drums to mark the corners and straw bales the only concession to safety.

New fans will welcome a complete and highly illustrated guide to the history of F1, while older fans will be able to compare their own views of what were the pivotal moments of change, in a book written by experienced motoring writers with two lifetimes worth of knowledge of the sport.

The book will link technical progress with the personalities involved, indeed many of the swiftest changes have come about as a result of accidents or tragedies — the death of Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994, the same weekend as Ayrton Senna, could have been avoided by the HANS safety device. The introduction of the halo saved Romain Grosjean’s life in Bahrain last year, but only came about because of the tragic accident that claimed Jules Bianchi in Japan.

Along with changes to circuits and the technology of the cars, this book highlights the commercial changes and the controversies that threatened to split the sport apart — such as the threat of breakaway series proposed at various times by teams.

A must-read for completists or for those new to the sport, F1: The Pinnacle is a fascinating insight into one of the most exciting and dangerous sports in the world.