Top 5 F1 team principals of all time

In a sport like F1 where more often than not it's the driver who takes the accolades, a team principal is an undoubted catalyst in the background.

It's tough to disagree that a driver does put his neck on the line and gets the job done in the car. However, it's the team principal that facilitates everything in the background to put the driver in the best possible position to get the job done.

Throughout the history of the sport, there have been some true icons of F1 who have taken over the role of a team principal. In this article, we pay homage to these icons as we rank the top five team principals in F1 history:

#5 Frank Williams (Williams F1)

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Practice

Frank Williams was an out-and-out racer, and his rise in the sport should be considered an inspiration for everyone.

Starting a team from scratch, Williams took his team to unprecedented heights. He was a pioneer when he had the spectacular Honda engine powering the unforgettable rivalry between teammates Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.

He was the man who gave Adrian Newey the opportunity and resources to come up with the active suspension, one of the best innovations in F1 history. Williams was also the man who every top driver on the grid, including Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell chased to get a seat in his team.

Williams was a true pioneer of his time and his record of nine Championships and 114 race wins is a testament to that.

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#4 Toto Wolff (Mercedes)

F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Final Practice

What makes Toto Wolff such an elite is the fact that he came into the sport as a businessman. Unfortunately for him, the credit for his immediate success in 2014 was more often than not attributed to his predecessor Ross Brawn.

However, what Wolff did in the next few years was unprecedented. Eight consecutive world championships in F1 is no joke as Wolff ensured that Mercedes enjoyed an unprecedented level of domination.

What Mercedes achieved under Wolff was a championship reign that has not been seen before and might not be seen again. After entering the sport as a businessman, Wolff has taken over in such a way that he's now one of the most respected personalities in the paddock.

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#3 Jean Todt (Ferrari)

F1 Grand Prix of Germany - Qualifying

All one needs to do to understand the impact Jean Todt had is look at the record Ferrari had before and after he was a part of the team.

Ferrari's resurgence and rise to the top during the late 1990s and early 2000s is often attributed to Michael Schumacher. Sure, he deserves credit, but even Schumacher was sold on the idea of a Ferrari fairytale by someone, and that was done by none other than Todt.

Jean Todt did what an F1 team principal should do. He brought together personnel like Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne and facilitated the best possible conditions for Ferrari to win.

After Todt left the team, Ferrari have not won a title, and before he was hired, the Italian team had not won anything for close to a decade. That's the true legacy of Todt, the fact that before and after his stint, Ferrari have been unable to replicate the success they achieved with him.

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#2 Christian Horner (Red Bull)

F1 Grand Prix of Brazil - Practice & Qualifying

Joining the sport as a team principal despite being younger than a few drivers on the grid, Christian Horner had his back against the wall from the very beginning. To exacerbate things, he was leading Red Bull, a drinks company who nobody wanted to take seriously at the time.

In that backdrop, Horner was able to lure Adrian Newey away from McLaren, get a young Sebastian Vettel as the lead driver, and most importantly grow a young team from scratch to the point where it could win titles.

A four-year title run from 2010-2013 and making a comeback almost a decade later to dominate the sport again in 2022 is a testament to the legendary contribution Horner has made in F1.

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#1 Colin Chapman

Colin Chapman (left)

There has not been a bigger pioneer in F1 than Colin Chapman. The man transformed the sport in a way no one else has been able to do before him and after.

Chapman introduced the concept of aerodynamics in F1 and produced cars nobody could compete against.

He was the first person to turn an F1 car into a walking billboard by introducing the concept of sponsorships. In the end, how can one forget that the man was able to dominate a complete era of the sport where he ran underpowered cars to titles.

A career that saw him win as many as seven world championships and the way he did things made Chapman the benchmark when it comes to team principals in F1.