As Formula One marks its 75th anniversary, Assouline revisits the sport’s extensive and action-packed history with the second edition of Formula 1: The Impossible Collection. Written by veteran journalist Brad Spurgeon and featuring words from Jean Todt and Stefano Domenicali, the coffee table book brings together major milestones that shaped Formula One, from its early days in 1950 to its current global presence. It also includes new material on recent events, including Red Bull’s rise and the cultural impact of the Drive to Survive series. The book chronicles winners and stats while aiming to trace how Formula One became the highly engineered, media-driven phenomenon it is today.
The new volume walks through decades of change, highlighting technical developments, pivotal races, and the personalities that have defined the sport. Familiar names such as Fangio, Senna, Lauda, Hamilton, and Verstappen appear alongside team figures like Enzo Ferrari and Colin Chapman. The book also reflects on Formula One’s quieter contributors, the mechanics, designers, and engineers, whose efforts often go unnoticed by fans. Presented as a curated selection rather than a complete archive, it offers a lens into how the sport has balanced tradition with constant reinvention.
Brad Spurgeon, who covered Formula One for over two decades, brings a consistent voice and historical grounding to the collection. His experience following the sport firsthand allows for context beyond the headlines and race-day commentary. While the book itself is produced in the luxury format typical of Assouline, the stories within focus more on the evolution of the sport than on spectacle. At a time when Formula One is reaching wider audiences and generating new debate around its direction, this edition functions as a measured look back, one that doesn’t shy away from the sport’s risks and rewards that have shaped it.
Source: Assouline Publishing
