Can't get enough of Formula 1? If you're anxiously tapping your feet as you await the next big race, you're not the only one. Formula 1 racing—also referred to as Formula One or simply F1—has been around for decades, accumulating a loyal fanbase throughout the world. It is only recently that the United States has realized how thrilling the sport is and started to pay closer attention to what's going on in the world of F1.
Along with this attention has come a slew of Formula One books and even Formula One podcasts to help educate and amuse new fans and seasoned veterans alike. Each of the listens below, whether podcast or audiobook, sheds light on the racers, the cars, the sponsors, the locations, and all the backstage drama that keeps fans coming back for more, season after season. If you're looking for the best books about Formula One and the best Formula One podcasts, you've come to the right place. So, start your engines, and get ready for some fast-paced entertainment!
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Hosted by Andrew Lewis, An Americans Guide to Formula 1 explores the unique challenges—and excitement—of being a fan of a sport that is not yet widely known or understood in the United States. Listen to this podcast to learn more about the sport, get race recaps and fun insider commentary, and stay up to date on global news about Formula 1.
Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg's buzzy The Formula is a fresh, comprehensive look at the recent history of F1. This listen covers how Formula One overtook entrenched American traditions like NASCAR to become popular stateside. Read with just the right balance of seriousness and subtle humor by Qarie Marshall, this audiobook is sure to reveal new insights and exciting behind-the-scenes revelations.
F1 Nation is your one-stop shop for all of the latest F1 news, making it the best Formula One podcast for newbies and old fans alike. It analyzes the races, interviews the competitors, and helps listeners to better understand how past events might affect future competitions. With guidance from host Tom Clarkson and his many big-name guests, you'll get closer to being an F1 expert with each episode.
Fans of the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive will no doubt remember F1 team principal Guenther Steiner. Steiner narrates his audiobook, Surviving to Drive, which takes listeners through every step, good and bad, of the typical F1 season. You'll learn what it takes to match the right cars with the right drivers, travel the world during the racing season, and keep yourself—and your team—together when the worst happens.
Multiple F1 reporters team up on The Race F1 Podcast. Like any other group of devotees, the hosts of this informative Formula One podcast each come to the sport with their own perspectives, opinions, and preferences. Listen in to their highly informed, sometimes competing viewpoints and decide for yourself what you think about each race, vehicle, and sponsor—and their individual chances for success.
Have you ever wondered what it takes to keep an F1 car going during a big race, or if you have what it takes to join the pros in the pits? The Mechanic is unique among Formula 1 listens in that it strives to answer those very questions. Written and narrated by Marc “Elvis” Priestley, a veteran mechanic, The Mechanic gives you the dirt on how to keep those top-tier machines in top form and what those famous drivers are really like when they're not behind the wheel.
Most Formula One podcasts are told from the point of view of the experts, which is perfect if you want to increase your knowledge of the sport. But that perspective can sometimes feel overwhelming or alienating to a newcomer trying to figure out where they belong. Fan Behavior is a different kind of F1 podcast. Hosted by two fans, this show takes a much more accessible, informal approach to the subject. Together, Hannah and Zoe share their personal preferences and predictions, interview experts and fellow fans, and much more.
Formula One is great, but it's hardly the only racing game around. If you want to get your F1 updates at the same time as you keep abreast of major moments in other motorsports, Negative Camber is the podcast for you. Hosts Jamie LeMura and Leigh Harrison explore the modern world of racing in its various forms. At the same time, they provide historical context on motorsports and the people who helped bring them to where they are today.
Ferrari is one of the "Big Four" Formula One teams. But how did that come to be? Enzo Ferrari, the newly released biography about the founder of the eponymous auto manufacturer, provides fascinating historical insight. Give this one a listen, and you'll be ahead of the game in knowledge about Ferrari's complicated history as a racer, an automaker, and a manufacturer for fascist Italy during World War II. Written by Luca Dal Monte and performed with verve by Paul Daintry, this book makes it clear that, one way or another, Formula One as we know it would not exist without Enzo Ferrari.
Produced alongside the F1 Nation podcast, F1 Explains is devoted specifically to answering questions from listeners. Not only do hosts Christian Hewgill and Katie Osborne tell you everything you need to know about the races, but they also cover Formula One-related media and talk to experts in various fields to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date, and informative responses. That makes it one of the best F1 podcasts for anyone looking to learn from those in the know.
Most books about Formula One focus on the people who make the sport possible. However, the cars themselves deserve just as much of the credit and spotlight for making F1 so exhilarating to watch. How to Build a Car is the life story of Adrian Newey, an engineering prodigy who designed cars for many of the greats over more than three decades in racing. Narrated by actor Richard Trinder, this memoir explores F1 history by taking you deep inside the machines that make it go.
While very few of us will ever get to be involved in Formula One directly, we can still learn a great deal from those who do and apply their lessons to our own considerably less high-octane lives. Total Competition is co-written by Ross Brawn, a long-time director and principal whose impressive career contains many useful case studies for anyone looking to advance in just about any field. Co-writer Adam Parr and Audie Award-winning performer Peter Noble team up to narrate this unique guide to success under pressure.
Even if Formula One is your favorite sport in the world, you might still have moments when you look at all of those guys driving around and around in circles and think that the whole thing is just a little bit silly. So do Josh Weller and Alfie Brown, the hosts of Dirty Air F1. This F1 podcast provides a lighthearted look at the races, the personalities, and the dramas behind them. As intense as Formula One can get, it's good to remind yourself of the reason you got into this sport in the first place—to have fun.
If you love F1, you probably know the name Jenson Button. But how much do you know about what you should do with the fame and fortune once you get it? Or how to keep your teammates from killing you for wrecking their stuff? How to Be an F1 Driver is among the most honest and entertaining F1 books out there, and it's co-narrated by Button himself, along with Jack Hawkins. If you can't get enough of Jenson Button, you can also check out his self-narrated autobiography, Jenson Button.
Eileen Gonzalez is a freelance writer from Connecticut. She has a Master's degree in communications and years of experience writing about pop culture. She contributes to Book Riot and Foreword Reviews.
