A revealing look at the inside workings of a modern Formula One team, featuring exclusive interviews with drivers, team principals, engineers, pit crew members and more.

An access-all-areas look inside the thrilling world of Formula One.

Formula One is one of the most intense, complex and secretive sports on the planet. It’s also the fastest growing major sport and attracts one of the largest global television audiences.

In F1 Racing Confidential, Guardian journalist Giles Richards speaks to the men and women inside Formula One to shed new light on the hidden inner workings of the world’s most glamorous motorsport. Featuring exclusive interviews with experts at every level, this book offers a complete look inside the workings of a modern F1 team, revealing industry secrets and insights from espionage controversy to what happens at a driving academy.

Perfect for both those new to F1 and for lifelong fans of this fantastic and fascinating sport, this is an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look inside Formula One teams such as Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and more. With a foreword by former F1 world champion Damon Hill and contributions from dozens of insiders – including Lando Norris, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff – each with their own fascinating stories, insights and revelations, F1 Racing Confidential takes you inside Formula One like never before.

"A compelling glimpse behind the scenes of the men and women who keep the F1 circus on the road, sketching nineteen pen portraits of the key personnel that make up each team. It is a simple idea, but Richards executes it deftly and with a reporter’s eye for a telling detail." - Motorsport Magazine

"F1 Racing Confidential is a phenomenal read. I couldn't put it down." - Midweek Motorsport podcast

"This rip-roaring debut from journalist Richards profiles the individuals, most of them behind the scenes, who keep Formula One teams up and running… Racing fans will want to take this for a spin." - Publisher’s Weekly

"An intriguing look behind the drivers of Formula One… A treat for racing fans." - Kirkus Reviews

"Richards masterfully assembles an established and eclectic crew of people united by a desire to help their teams be the best. Each engrossing chapter highlights a vital cog in the F1 racing machine, their contributions to their teams, and the sport overall. This fascinating book will spark the interest of racing aficionados and casual fans alike." - Booklist

"This book has turned out to be one of the better F1 books I’ve read for some time...Every interviewee offers some interesting insights into past events or how things work in real life. It wasn’t until I read the Victoria Johnson chapter that I realised that the Mercedes drivers are involved almost from day 1 in the team’s branding and livery designs." - F1 Nut.com

"This is not a series of first-person essays that lay out the perspectives of 20 figures from six F1 teams and Pirelli, as we’d expected. Instead, we get delightful editorialising and analysis… detail and enthusiastic telling. The varied life stories of each figure are the background deliciousness of this work – the humbler, testing beginnings of many are more compelling than the privileged elements of Horner’s and Wolff’s famous lives." - Autosport