In a sport as cash-intensive and technologically advanced as F1, there is little or no doubt that a team would need to be on the bleeding edge to be competitive, let alone be successful. While the likes of Schumacher, Niki Lauda, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are household names these days, it takes a team of accomplished engineers, strategists and backup racers to bring out the best in the drivers on every single match day. In the 70-year-old history of the sport, there have been some intense seasons, majestic teams and iconic performances.
In this article, we take a look at some of the best teams to have existed in the sport and their several notable accomplishments over the years.
5. Mercedes – 7 titles:
Modern F1 fans will equate the dominance of the Mercedes team with their dominating run with Lewis Hamilton at the helm over the last 7 seasons, but they also had two titles with the great Juan Fangio in the 1950s. However, there was no constructors’ championship back then, and Mercedes quit motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans disaster, only to return in 2010.
Since the debut of the V6-hybrid engines in 2014, Mercedes has only failed to win 32 races- out of 121. It has clinched the constructors title every season, and Lewis Hamilton has won five of the available drivers’ crowns – with the other going to team-mate Nico Rosberg.
4. Lotus – 7 titles:
The genius of Colin Chapman helped Lotus become the team to beat in the 1960s and early-1970s, much to the chagrin of the legendary Enzo Ferrari. Powered by Ford and Cosworth mighty DFV the lightweight Lotus would become the masters of the aerodynamic arts with the iconic Lotus 72, before transforming Formula 1 with the invention of ground effect. From then Lotus continued to innovate and introduce some incredible names to Formula 1, but never managed to climb to the top of the tree. Its last title for both drivers and constructors came in 1978 with Mario Andretti. However, they did launch the likes of Ayrton Senna and Nigell Mansell in the 80s, for which they deserve a lot of credit.
3. McLaren – 8 titles:
McLaren sit second on the all-time list of drivers’ titles, with 12, only three shy of Ferrari’s total of 15. But McLaren has appeared to have always been geared toward that top-line individual championship glory. While it has won the drivers’ title while missing out on constructors glory four times, McLaren has never won the constructors title without the help of a drivers’ champion, unlike Ferrari, for whom that become a regular feat in the 1970s and 1980s. McLaren’s dominance really came through the late-1980s and early-1990s. In that period, with Gordon Murray involved and Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna leading the charge, McLaren won six titles in eight years, including four on the trot.
2. Williams – 9 titles:
Williams, the team from Grove in Oxfordshire only entered its first race as a constructor in 1977, had won its first title by 1980 and won eight more over the next seventeen years. The period of dominance also saw titles for Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. Behind the scenes Williams has also been filled with famous names.
1. Ferrari – 16 titles:
Perhaps it isn’t in any way surprising that Ferrari tops this list. It has started more Grands Prix than any other constructor – by more than 100. It also started racing in F1 eight years before any other team on this list, and 16 years before any other team still competing with them. It’s also won more races than any other, had more 1-2 finishes, more podiums, more pole positions, and fastest laps and won more points than any other team in Formula 1 history.
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