New book: Pirelli celebrates 500 Grands Prix – a treat for Formula 1 fans

It is a spring of milestones in Formula 1: McLaren has contested its 1,000th Grand Prix, sole tyre supplier Pirelli is celebrating 500 Grands Prix, and Lewis Hamilton has won his first Grand Prix for Ferrari.

To celebrate 500 Grand Prix races in style, Pirelli has produced a wonderful, richly illustrated book. It recounts the history from the first Formula 1 World Championship race winner, Giuseppe Farina, at Silverstone in 1950, with Alfa Romeo, through the many Ferrari successes, such as those of the then superstar Alberto Ascari, right up to the year 2026, when Pirelli will celebrate its 357th GP victory with Hamilton’s win in Barcelona.

Ferrari-Star Alberto Ascari in Monza

Foto: Pirelli

‘Stir the soul’ is the title used by Pirelli in the English edition of the book; in the Italian version, it reads: ‘Emozioni’. Pirelli is a name that evokes, for motorsport fans, the classic Italian passion and over 150 years of tyre expertise in perfect harmony.

Pirelli is not merely a supplier in the pinnacle of motorsport; the company stands for drivers and engineers, and its rich history tells of danger and decisions, of spectators and shared rituals, of research and precision.

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The new book, edited by the Pirelli Foundation and published by Marsilio Arte, was presented at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during the 2026 Grand Prix. The volume celebrates Pirelli’s 500 races in the World Championship with a rich collection of images and texts. Much of the material comes from Pirelli’s breathtaking historical archive.

The event brought together Marco Tronchetti Provera, President of Pirelli and Chairman of the Pirelli Foundation, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, Jean Todt, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, and Nick Heidfeld, former GP driver and chief test driver when Pirelli returned to the Formula 1 stage.

During the event, the speakers reflected on the world of Formula 1 and on Pirelli’s relationship with motorsport, each contributing their own experiences and perspectives.

The result was a journey through eras, circuits and technical and historical aspects, presenting Formula 1 as a powerful form of contemporary visual language and as a story of industry, innovation and visual culture, with an eye to future chapters, driven by the same passion that shaped its beginnings.

The book celebrates not only the Milan-based company’s 500 World Championship races, but also the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship, reconstructing its history from its past.

It begins at Silverstone on 13 May 1950, the day the Formula 1 World Championship was born. From that moment on, Pirelli has left its mark across three main periods: 1950–1958; 1981–1991; and from 2011 onwards as the exclusive tyre partner of Formula 1.

Alongside the protagonists on the track – from Alberto Ascari to Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet, right through to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen – the book also highlights the work of the technicians, engineers and mechanics who make every Grand Prix possible.

A world of experts who play a decisive role in shaping the competition. The volume is given a special touch by a previously unpublished photo reportage by Darren Heath, dedicated to the 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This contemporary section, created for the anniversary year, forms a visual bridge between memory and the future.

The concluding section presents key statistical overviews and infographics: kilometres, victories, records and statistics. Together, they summarise decades of competition and convey, in a concise form, the numerical scale of a sport as a whole.

Fans can look forward to a dazzling array of phenomenal photos and astonishing insights, packed into a heavyweight volume weighing 2.4 kilograms.

Pirelli shows how to set a milestone properly.

• Key highlights

• A Stir of the Soul: Pirelli’s 500 GPs in the F1 World Championship

• ISBN: 979-1254633533

• Format 24.4 x 28.9 cm

• 480 pages

• Around 1000 photos

• Text in English

• Available from specialist retailers for around €75