As the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula 1 has long been associated with glitz, glamour and glory — and, more often than not, impossible moments.
Timed to the celebration of the sport’s 75th anniversary this year and the upcoming “F1” movie, Assouline has released its “Formula 1: The Impossible Collection, 2nd Edition” with a new yellow cover and imagery, with forewords from Formula 1’s president and chief executive officer Stefano Domenicali and Jean Todt, former Formula 1 driver and United Nations special envoy for road safety.
Brad Spurgeon, the esteemed and veteran Formula 1 journalist for two decades, was commissioned with the task of compiling 100 once-in-a-lifetime moments of the sport for Assouline’s Ultimate Collection of luxury coffee table book series. Spurgeon worked with Formula 1 photographer Bernard Asset, who served as a photo researcher — with many of his photos included in the book.
Starting from the first race in 1950 at the British Grand Prix until today’s worldwide cultural phenomenon with more than 24 races globally, Spurgeon explores how Formula 1 has taken the world by storm and ushered in a new era for the sport — where fashion, luxury, watches, money, celebrities and more all converge every race weekend for its own mini-version of the Super Bowl.
The book provides an intimate behind-the-curtain look at the team garages and the efforts of mechanics, engineers, technicians, team principals and executives — alongside its 20 drivers ready to risk everything for a taste of glory and to be enshrined forever in Formula 1 history.
Iconic figures who’ve been cemented in the sport’s decades-long history and featured in the book include Colin Chapman, Bernie Ecclestone, Juan Manuel Fangio, Enzo Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Niki Lauda, Bruce McLaren, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart, Jean Todt and Max Verstappen.
While figuring out what key moments to highlight, Spurgeon told WWD he selected 150 moments and then narrowed it down to the most pivotal and “extraordinary moments that touched the series in ways that weren’t only about the sport.”
As the sport’s popularity has evolved, so has its relationship with fashion and luxury. Spurgeon said that the shared values of Formula 1 and fashion — being “innovation, pushing boundaries and the pursuit of perfection” — have attracted many fashion and luxury aficionados over the years. One example of this intersection in the book is a photograph of Helmut Newton shooting a model in 1985 for the 2014 Pirelli calendar.
Assouline’s “Formula 1: The Impossible Collection, 2nd Edition.”
Courtesy of Assouline
The second edition picks up right where the first one left off and looks at some of the notable moments that have happened in just the last four years — which Spurgeon describes as a “paradigm shift.”
While many moments were familiar to him thanks to his long career, Spurgeon uncovered more historical details during his research. One such instance involved Fangio, who was kidnapped for several hours by Fidel Castro’s revolutionaries before the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix. Surprisingly, Fangio established a friendly rapport with his captors and saw them as “good people” despite the political motivation behind their kidnapping — adding another layer of intrigue to an already famous tale.
“Formula 1 reaches people in a way that other sports don’t,” Spurgeon said. “That comes down to the soap opera of Formula 1; people love to watch the soap opera and see these characters at play, from race to race, following what’s going to happen and waiting for something to happen.”
Some new inclusions include the record for the shortest race ever at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix of just two laps, the controversial safety car incident at the 2021 Abu Dhabi finale race where Verstappen won and became champion despite Hamilton leading the race and was set to win his eighth title and Red Bull’s dominance in 2023, where the team won 21 out of 22 races — with Verstappen winning a record-breaking 19 races in one season.
Domenicali notes in his foreword that the book showcases both the triumphs and the losses of iconic figures the sport has experienced over the years. Moreover, the Formula 1 executive writes that the book illustrates just how far Formula 1 has come as a sport, by building a brand that Nielsen Sport notes reaches more than 800 million global fans.
“It has become much more popular with both a younger audience and with women; much younger women,” Spurgeon said. “It was always considered a macho series for guys. It remains exceptional and the drivers are still living with danger, money, high stakes and the endless soap opera scandals or tear-inducing complications. Drivers became relatable yet still glamorous and rich and immersed in drama.”
Spurgeon emphasizes Liberty Media Corp.’s acquisition of the sport in 2017 as a major milestone and a turning point in its transformation. The loosening of strict social media rules, Netflix’s hit docu-drama “Drive to Survive” and the launch of F1TV to provide on-demand race coverage as central to bringing the sport into a modern digital era.
While the “soap opera” aspect has always been a part of Formula 1, Spurgeon’s updates to the second edition look at the new era, which has caused a massive transformation. For the first time since 1982 — when there were races in Long Beach, Detroit and Las Vegas — there are now three races in the U.S. in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas on the Formula 1 calendar due to its growth in popularity.
“It’s big, it’s beautiful, it’s perfection, as all those things that Formula 1 are trying to create,” Spurgeon said.
#Impossible #Collection #Celebrates #Years #Racing
