“Facts” is not the word I would have used. “Models” (IMHO) is probably closer to the mark.
No, you need facts. Formulas, of which there are tons of them in science are factual descriptions of how the universe operates. The models while interesting are not what science is about. You cannot cure an illness with models, you cure it with facts such as this medicine will do this or that. Same in other fields, you need to know the facts such as how much weight a certain material can carry when you are building things. The facts are what makes science what it is. It is the discovery of facts that allows the solution of problems.