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As Formula 1 is four races into its 2025 season, the series which once attracted a niche and largely Eurocentric fan base is currently drawing exponentially greater global attention due to the awareness raised by reality television, expansion into new markets and partnerships, and a new paradigm in profits that continues to fuel it all. Celebrating its 75th anniversary, the premier motorsport entity now has its zeitgeist captured in a book that should be required reading for neophytes and ardent devotees alike—Grands Prix: 75 Years of Formula One Racing.
Written by Anthony Rowlinson, former editor for F1 Racing magazine, the 300-page coffee-table tome is from ACC Art Books, the publishing house behind last year’s release of Ferrari: From Inside and Outside. As with the latter, this latest work is visually driven, presenting imagery from the acclaimed photo bank of U.K.-based Motorsport Images and taken by the finest Formula 1 photographers while at the top of their game. Among them, and the man who oversaw much of the development of Grands Prix, is Steven Tee, who has witnessed Formula 1’s greatest moments through his camera lens for the past 40 years.
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Racer Robert Kubica in the middle of his lap 26 crash at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, which amazingly left him with only a sprained ankle and a concussion.
“I wanted every picture to be able to tell the story, and I wanted to showcase the archive we’re so proud of . . . and I do feel it does that,” says Tee of the publication. Tee was literally born to the life, as his grandfather was the owner of Motor Sport Magazine from the 1930s until the 1990s, and his father, Michael, photographed and wrote for the family business as well. With his father having been at the first Formula 1 contest, the 1950 British Grand Prix, and Steven at the Bahrain Grand Prix this past weekend, he notes that, “we can’t claim to have done every single one of them [grand prix races], but there’s been a member of the Tee family at 95 or 96 percent of them.”
Adding gravitas to the comprehensive reference work is an introduction by Sir Jackie Stewart. Within his thoughtful foreword, the iconic racer poignantly states: “Many of these images stir deep memories—happy ones, of course, as they take me back to my youth, trying to forge a career in motorsport and ultimately winning my three World championships. There is great sadness too. Formula One was a deadly sport when I was racing and to see the faces of Jim [Clark], Jochen Rindt and François Cevert, among many others, is a bitter reminder of the price demanded in pursuit of Grand Prix glory.”
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Jackie Stewart shares a winning moment with his wife Helen after his first-place finish at the 1969 French Grand Prix.
Available in hardcover for $56, Grands Prix is an evocative tribute to that pursuit, divided into seven chapters—Photographers, Champions and Heroes, Circuits, Icons, Rivalries, The Great Cars, and Moments. It all begins with six legendary photographs, each explained by the individual who shot it, including Tee and his renowned image of a victorious Ayrton Senna at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix while competing for Lotus-Renault. It was Senna’s first Formula 1 win.
“That was my first full season, ’85, and that was the second race of the year,” says Tee of the photo that he cites as the turning point in his fledging career at the time. “The guy looking deliriously happy is Peter Warr, who was the team boss and quite a hard man to please,” recalls Tee. “He kind of cornered me on the plane on the way back and said, ‘I hope you got some good pictures today because we haven’t won for three years and this is a big day for us,” states Tee, adding that Warr ended up having the picture framed and hung in his office. Then, of course, there’s the famed photo of Juan Manuel Fangio drifting at the 1957 French Grand Prix. The image was captured by Michael Tee, who is quoted in the book as saying, “I think the point to make about Fangio in this picture is that he was absolutely on the limit.”
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Photographer Michael Tee captures Juan Manuel Fangio drifting his Maserati 250F at the 1957 French Grand Prix.
For the younger Tee, who has worked closely with Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton among the laundry list of legends, he sees similar potential in the current generation of drivers. Specifically is this the case with current points leader Lando Norris and Bahrain-winner Oscar Piastri, as Tee currently documents the teammates as the director of motorsport photography for McLaren.
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From left: Ayrton Senna (Lotus), Alain Prost (McLaren), Nigel Mansell (Williams), and Nelson Piquet (Williams) pose together at the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix.
“Lando’s biggest threat is probably Oscar and Oscar’s biggest threat is going to be Lando,” opines Tee. “It’s going to be very close this year.” When asked what he thinks of the current state of Formula 1 in general, Tee is unequivocal in his response. “I’m not a rose-colored-glasses person. I’m not somebody who looks back; I very much live in the now, and I absolutely think that Formula 1, now, is as good as I can ever remember. I think this is a golden age at the moment.”
(Editor’s note:Motorsport Images’ archive, including the contents in the book, has recently been acquired by Getty Images, which touts itself as the largest privately-owned image archive globally.)
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The cover of “Grands Prix: 75 Years of Formula One Racing” from ACC Art Books.
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