In anticipation of Formula 1 season 2021 starting next week in Bahrain, I went for a book.
This one is a simple directory or reference manual of first thousand F1 races. If you want your copy, go for Formula 1 All The Races - The First 1000 @ Veloce Publishing.
For a non-fan, the book is as dry as a phone book. For a true fan like me, there are short descriptions of seasons and every single grand prix driven. Personally, I love reading about the early days. TV was barely invented, but wasn't such a huge part of F1 as it is now. What I do is fix a rerefence point from the book and fill in the gaps by googling for additional information. This works well as not all of the races are that interesting.
In short: Definitely not for everyone, but only for fans (pun intended).