Introduction
There was no race this week, so instead I decided to give a little rundown of each team, who drives for them, and some other stats.
Teams & Drivers
Mercedes has been in F1 for a while now. Their team principal (who is basically the guy that’s calling the shots) is Toto Wolff. Toto is also the CEO of Mercedes (the team, not the car brand), and co-owner of the team. Mercedes have won a total of nine World Driver’s Championships. They won two in 1954 and 1955 thanks to Juan Manuel Fangio, and the rest were won from 2014 until 2020, mostly thanks to Lewis Hamilton. 2016, though, was won by Nico Rosberg in a very intense battle between him and Lewis. They have 8 World Constructor’s championships, won consecutively from 2014 until 2021.
Their current driver lineup is George Russell, who’s been in F1 for eight seasons and has a total of 7 wins, and Kimi Antonelli, who’s been in F1 for 2 seasons and has a total of 8 wins. Kimi is currently on track to win the Driver’s Championship this season and if he does so, he’ll become the youngest champion in history.
Ferrari has been in F1 since F1 started. They’ve won fifteen World Driver’s Championships and sixteen World Constructor’s Championships, which is the most of any team on the grid. The last time they won anything, though, was when they won the Constructor’s Championship in 2008. Their team principal is Fred Vasseur, who is, as far as I know, not the CEO for Ferrari. They won their first championship in 1952 thanks to Alberto Ascari, and from 2000 to 2004 they won five consecutive Driver’s Championships thanks to Michael Schumacher. (Schumacher has a grand total of seven championships, making him one of two F1 drivers to have the most championships in F1 history. He’s also the only driver in F1 history to win five consecutive driver’s championships.)
Their current driver lineup is Charles Leclerc, who’s been in F1 for 9 seasons and has 9 wins, and Lewis Hamilton, who’s been in F1 for 20 seasons, has 106 race wins, and seven championships. (He holds the record for the most wins in the history of F1 and is the only driver in history to match Schumacher’s record of seven championships.)
McLaren won their first championship in 1974, so it’s safe to say they’ve been around a while. They have a grand total of 13 World Driver’s Championships, the most recent of which was won last season by Lando Norris in a battle that went all the way to Abu Dhabi and was won by two points. Before that, their most recent championship was won by Lewis Hamilton in 2008, during his second F1 season. They have 10 World Constructor’s Championships. Their team principal is Andrea Stella, and their CEO is Zak Brown. (Zak Brown is not the team principal of McLaren, but he’s around a lot anyway for reasons known only to him and probably Andrea Stella.)
Their current driver lineup is Lando Norris, who’s been in F1 for 8 seasons, has twelve wins, and one championship that he got last season, and Oscar Piastri, who’s been in F1 for four seasons and has 9 wins. He led the first half of the season last year and everyone was sure he’d win the championship; unfortunately he came back from the summer break and proceeded to crash and burn spectacularly, so the championship went to Lando.
Red Bull has been in F1 since 2004, which might seem like a long time, but when you look at how long some of the other teams have been in F1, it’s really not that long. Their team principal is Laurent Mekies, and they’ve won eight Driver’s Championships. Four were won consecutively from 2010 until 2013 and the other four were won consecutively from 2021 until 2024. They hold the record for the most wins in a single season for a team with 21 out of 22 races in the 2023 season, and for the most wins in a single season for a driver with 19 out of 22 races, also in the 2023 season. They have 6 Constructor’s Championships.
Their current driver lineup is Max Verstappen, who’s been in F1 for twelve seasons, has 71 wins, and four championships, and Isack Hadjar, who’s been in F1 for two seasons and has zero wins. Max nearly won the championship last season, but he lost it by two points. If he’d won it, he would’ve overcome the biggest points deficit in F1 history at 104.
Racing Bulls is Red Bull’s sister team. They’re the only team on the grid that’s a sister team for another team. They started, I’m pretty sure, as Scuderia Toro Rosso, but now they’re called Racing Bulls. I think the full team name is Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, but it’s so much easier to just say Racing Bulls or VCARB. Their team principal is Alan Permane. I know nothing about him, but he seems to be doing a good job of running VCARB; they’ve been doing consistently well this season. They haven’t won any championships and as far as I’m aware they haven’t won any races either.
Their current driver lineup is Liam Lawson, who’s been in F1 for 3 seasons and has zero championships or wins, and Arvid Lindblad, who’s been in F1 for one season and also has zero championships or wins. Liam has yet to spend a full Formula One season with just one team; he’s been pingponging back and forth between being a reserve driver, driving for Red Bull, and driving for VCARB since he joined F1.
Alpine is sort of known for being the pink team, which made the news about Gucci becoming their title sponsor very upsetting. They’ve got a very nice pink and blue livery going on right now. They’ve currently won no championships, but I think they have won races. They’ve definitely been on the podium at least once. Their team principal is Flavio Briatore, who was (I think) banned from the sport at one point. I don’t know how he managed to come back.
Their current driver lineup is Pierre Gasly, who’s been in F1 for ten seasons and has zero championships and one win, and Franco Colapinto, who’s been in F1 for 2 seasons and has no championships or wins.
Haas is one of the newer teams on the grid; they joined in 2016 and currently have no championships or race wins. There’s been a bit of speculation about Esteban Ocon apparently leaving the team next season; he was quoted as saying he was a free agent recently, so I guess that means he’s not going to be driving for Haas next season, but we’ll see. Their team principal is Ayao Komatsu; I don’t know anything about him, but he seems like he knows what he’s doing.
Their current driver lineup is Esteban Ocon, who’s been in F1 for eight seasons and has no championships and one win, and Oliver Bearman, who’s been in F1 for 2 seasons and has no championships or wins.
Audi used to be Kick-Sauber, but they got bought out by Audi and are now, appropriately, Audi. Their livery is so much better now; it was a really bright green last season and now it’s gray and red. They have no championships or race wins. Their team principal is Mattia Binotto, who used to be Ferrari’s team principal. I don’t know if he was fired or if he just left, but I do know he wasn’t very well-liked.
Their current driver lineup is Nico Hülkenburg, who’s been in F1for 13 seasons and has no wins or championships, and Gabriel Bortoleto, who’s been in F1 for two seasons and also has no wins or championships. Nico did get a podium for the first time in his thirteen seasons last year, and that was a very fun day.
Williams is another old team. They have seven World Driver’s Championships and nine World Constructor’s Championships, but the last time they won anything was in 1997, so I think it’s pretty fair to say they used to be good. Their team principal is James Vowles. It’s sometimes referred to as the team for Max Verstappen’s former teammates with no appendixes because both Carlos and Alex used to be teammates with Max—Carlos when they were in Toro Rosso together and Alex when Max had been a Red Bull driver for a bit—and neither of them have their appendixes anymore.
Their current driver lineup is Carlos Sainz, who’s been in F1 for 12 seasons and has no championships and four wins, and Alex Albon, who’s been in F1 for eight seasons and has no championships or wins.
Aston Martin is one of the two worst teams on the grid. They have no championships or race wins. Their team principal is Adrian Newey. He used to work for Red Bull, I think, so it’s quite a mystery as to why he decided to go to Aston Martin of all teams.
Their current driver lineup is Fernando Alonso, who’s been in F1 for 23 seasons and has two championships and 32 wins, and Lance Stroll, who’s been in F1 for nine seasons and has no championships or wins. Fernando is the oldest driver on the grid. Lance’s father owns Aston Martin and it’s common knowledge that until Fernando leaves, there’s not going to be an open seat at the team, because Lance certainly isn’t going anywhere.
Cadillac is the newest team on the grid. They joined this season and their results definitely show it. I’m pretty sure they’re dead last in both the driver’s and constructor’s championships. Their team principal is Marcin Budkowski and they have no championships or race wins.
Their current driver lineup is Sergio Perez, who’s been in F1 for fifteen seasons and has zero championships and six wins, and Valtteri Bottas, who’s been in F1 for thirteen seasons and has zero championships and ten wins.