Directed by Matt Earl Beesley
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
"The Formula" is the 15th episode of Season 6 and the 132nd overall. It originally aired February 10, 2010.
A Formula One driver is severely burned when his car explodes during an exhibition race. With no shortage of suspects, the team fights diligently to narrow the list down to the culprit.
Tropes for the episode:
- Backstory of the Day: Mac tells Stella and his father participated in soap-box derby races when he was a child, and that they'd come in third at the Illinois state championship one year. He also says he's a fan of the victim and that he still watches racing when he gets the chance. The man's rival sets up a time for Mac and Stella to race each other on the practice track, and the episode ends with them doing so. Nowhere else in the series is there any mention of Mac being a racing fan.
- Fatal Method Acting: An in-universe example when the driver succumbs to his injuries.
- Mistaken for Cheating: When Stella shows Mac footage of the victim's wife visiting his crew chief's hotel room, they surmise that the two might be having an affair, thus giving each of them motive.
- Take Me Out at the Ball Game: The killer tries to make the crash during the race look like an accident, but doesn't take into account the expert skills of the investigative team.
- Vehicular Sabotage: The explosion was the result of two parties sabotaging the racecar separately. The first count of sabotage only shorted out a new, non-essential system to convince the victim that he had lost his "touch" as a racecar driver and should take his retirement. The team owner, who wanted to replace the driver with a new one, subsequently uses a wrench to loosen the nut of the car's fuel line, which filled the engine compartment with fuel vapors, which subsequently were ignited by sparks caused by the first sabotage.
