Ranked: The greatest F1 team principals of all time revealed

While drivers often take the limelight, the responsibility of creating a winning outfit falls on the team principals.

“Team principals lead their squads through wins, podiums and retirements but, if things don’t go well, they sometimes pay with their jobs,” is how incumbent Aston Martin boss Mike Krack described the role and it can often be a thankless task with praise going to the driver rather than the team. With that in mind, here are the most successful team principals based on titles from Formula 1’s 74-year history.

Ranked: The greatest Formula 1 team principals of all time

9= John Cooper (Cooper)

Years active: 1950-65

World titles: Four (Two Drivers’, Two Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 13

Three men share the ninth place spot with each on four world titles and coming up first is John Cooper.

While it is the likes of McLaren and Ferrari that have survived to this day, back in the 1950s and 1960s it was the Cooper name that looked just as likely to have a long lifespan.

The team was founded by John and his brother Charles in the early 1950s, competing in the second ever grand prix of F1, but it was in 1952 when they began to race full time in the growing sport.

Over the years, Cooper saw some legendary figures drive for the team including: Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, John Surtees and Jochen Rindt and by the end of the 1950s, the team had become a major force in F1 due to Cooper’s decision to build mid-engine cars.

Brabham would go on to win both his and the team’s first title in 1959 before repeating the feat the following year but as other team’s cottoned on to the design of the Cooper cars, the team’s supremacy waned.

When his father died in 1965, Cooper sold the team and they eventually stopped racing in 1969.

By the time of its closure, Cooper had participated in 129 Formula 1 events in nine years, winning 16 races and four world titles.

9= Jack Brabham (Brabham)

Years active: 1962-70

World titles: Four (Two Drivers’, Two Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 13

Speaking of Brabham, he also won four world titles as a team boss. While it does not tend to happen these days, in the early years of Formula 1, drivers starting their own teams was something of the norm.

After his stint with Cooper, the Australian set up his own team in 1962 and like Cooper they would go on to enjoy success in the sport.

In 1966, Brabham became the only man in F1 history to win the world title driving for his own team and the following season it was Denny Hulme who picked up the title.

Brabham won the Constructors’ in 1966 and 1967 and during their lifespan, the team secured 35 victories, 120 podiums and 832 points.

Their final race was the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix as the team ran into legal trouble.

9= Marco Piccinini (Ferrari)

Years active: 1978-88

World titles: Four (One Drivers’, Three Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 26

While Enzo Ferrari was the founder and face of the team, he did appoint team principals to run the team on a more day to day basis. With Ferrari’s dislike of travelling for races (something a few current team principals may welcome), he sent the likes of Marco Piccinini to run the famous team.

Monegasque Piccinini was appointed in 1978 with the team winning both titles in 1979.

While the Drivers’ crown eluded them, Ferrari added two more Constructors’ titles to their cabinet under Piccinini’s watch in ‘82 and ‘83 before the team principal left in 1988 following Enzo Ferrari’s death and Fiat’s fight for control.

To this day, he is still the second-longest serving Ferrari team principal in history and went on to take up the role of deputy president of the FIA from 1988 to 2008.

 

8.) Ken Tyrrell (Matra International and Tyrrell)

Years active: 1968-97

World titles: Five (Three Drivers’, Two Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 33

Another man who set up his own team was Ken Tyrrell, who began his operation in 1968.

He may not have the long lists of stars that Cooper did but Tyrrell’s ace was one of the best ever – Jackie Stewart.

Tyrrell gave Stewart his first go in an F1 car in 1964 and the Flying Scot repaid his faith with world title wins in 1969, 1971 and 1973.

The Tyrell team was also a proving ground for many a F1 driver. Martin Brundle, Jean Alesi, Jos Verstappen and Francois Cevert all raced for the team.

7.) Flavio Briatore (Benetton and Renault)

Years active: 1988-97 and 2000-09

World titles: Seven (Four Drivers’, Three Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 46

By far the most controversial entry on this list comes from Renault with Flavio Briatore.

On the face of it, Briatore should be one of the most respected figures in F1. A great spotter of young talent, guiding both Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso to their first world titles, while achieving success with unfancied outfits in Benetton and Renault.

But it is the way his first stint in F1 ended that leaves a sour taste in the mount. Admission of cheating in the infamous ‘Crashgate’ affair left him with a lifetime ban that was later overturned by the French courts.

It was enough to leave his name in tatters and now back at Enstone, he remains a controversial figure within the F1 paddock.

4= Christian Horner (Red Bull)

Years active: 2005-present

World titles: 13 (Seven Drivers’, Six Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 120

Formula 1’s marmite figure, you can love or loathe Christian Horner but you can not deny his success in the sport.

Red Bull being a title contender now seems the norm but that was very much far from the case back in 2005.

A fresh faced Horner at the age of 31 was selected to run this new outfit that had big goals and no desire to do things the traditional way.

F1’s noisy neighbours may have been seen as a marketing gimmick in the early days but Sebastian Vettel’s four consecutive title wins proved they were anything but.

Frustrated by Mercedes, Red Bull bounced back with a hard-fought 2021 victory before being the dominant force from 2022 to now.

Horner did not design the car, nor did he drive it, but he was key to building this winning-machine. At 50 years of age, he has plenty more years to give.

4=) Jean Todt (Ferrari)

Years active: 1993-2007

World titles: 13 (Six Drivers’, Seven Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 98

If Michael Schumacher was the bombastic face and Ross Brawn the brains behind it, Jean Todt was the perfect steward to protect both of them in the pressure cooker that is Ferrari.

Todt joined Ferrari in 1994 and under him the Scuderia won 13 world titles – but that number does not do justice to the feat he helped achieve.

A gap of 16 years without a Constructors’ title win, even longer without a Drivers’, Todt helped turn Ferrari into a winning machine when it looked like they may be cursed to never lift the sport’s biggest prize again.

By the time he left in 2009, Ferrari was back at the summit and he went on to be president of the FIA, providing a much-needed calmness that was not appreciated until his successor came along.

4=) Colin Chapman (Lotus)

Years active: 1958-82

World titles: 13 (Six Drivers’, Seven Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 67

A revolutionary figure when it came to aerodynamics, much of the work Colin Chapman did during his time at Lotus is still used today.

He founded the team in 1958 and success followed five years later at the hands of Jim Clark, a driver many consider to be one of the best ever.

Clark’s tragic passing did not mark an end to Lotus’ success. More titles came in 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1978, making Chapman one of the most decorated team principals of all-time.

Chapman suddenly died in 1982, four years after Lotus’ last title, due to a heart attack, and the team never matched the previous success.

More on F1’s historic figures

How a multiple-time World Champion almost quit for good before entering F1

The worst team in F1 history? A chaotic and classic tale from the 1990 season

3.) Toto Wolff (Mercedes)

Years active: 2013-present

World titles: 15 (Seven Drivers’, Eight Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 118

The steely face of Mercedes had an unusual route into Formula 1, becoming an investor before the idea of being a team principal was even a thought, but has since guided Mercedes to astonishing success.

The captain of the ship in many regards, there are those that claim Wolff enjoyed the success of the foundations put in place by Ross Brawn but regardless of whether you believe that or not, you have to praise Wolff for the way he guided that team through their dominant years.

It may sound easy to make a winning team stay successful but a glance at the current inner turmoil of Red Bull proves it is not.

Under Wolff, Mercedes made F1 history and with the Austrian signed until the end of 2026 at least, he hopes to add more silverware to their already big cabinet.

2.) Frank Williams (Frank Williams Racing Cars and Williams Racing)

Years active: 1969-76 and 1977-2020

World titles: 16 (Seven Drivers’, Nine Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 114

Starting an F1 team from the funds made working as a travelling grocery salesman is not exactly possible these days but that is exactly how Frank Williams did it in 1966.

That first venture – Frank Williams Racing Cars – did not go to plan with the team running from 1969 to 1976 without winning a race but the year after, Williams came back with a renewed sense of purpose.

Williams, along with Patrick Head, built a team that could not only win races but world titles and they duly came.

Alan Jones brought success in 1980; Rosberg in 1982; Prost in 1986; Piquet in 1987. Then came Mansell, Prost again, Hill and Villeneuve.

Williams, alongside McLaren, were the dominant force in the 1980s and 1990s and although the team has failed to recapture that magic since, staying on the grid has proven to be an achievement in itself.

Williams remained team boss until it was sold in September 2020 and he died the following year – but left an enormous mark on the sport forever more.

1.) Ron Dennis (McLaren)

Years active: 1981 – 2008 and 2014-16

World titles: 17 (10 Drivers’, Seven Constructors’)

Grand prix wins: 138

It is hard to adequately describe just how much Ron Dennis transformed McLaren during his tenure.

He took over the team in 1980, 10 years after Bruce McLaren died, and by the time he left in 2017, McLaren was one of the most successful constructors in F1 history.

Dennis was known to be ruthlessly efficient, dedicated to finding performance at all costs and although that approach eventually proved less effective, during his tenure he managed some of the all-time greats such as Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton and Ayrton Senna to world titles.

He also gave the green light to the McLaren Technology Centre that looks just as space age now as it did when it opened in 2004.

Under Dennis’ stewardship, McLaren won 17 world titles and have yet to add to that tally.

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