Since the beginning of F1, which is now more than 50 years old, many drivers and teams have competed in the championship. F1 teams are known as constructors, and they are crucial because no driver can win the championship without a good team behind them.
While some teams have had more modest owners and have not lasted as long in the category or have had a more understated stage, other teams have had more illustrious owners.
Regardless, all teams have contributed in some way to shaping what is now F1, one of the greatest shows on the planet. The competition has always been fierce, and there has been a constructors’ championship in addition to the drivers’ championship since 1958. Only 15 of the teams that have competed in F1 have won the constructors’ championship.
The sport’s popularity has been growing in recent years, and according to the UK sports streaming trends, it’s gaining more streaming viewership every year.
With that said, here are the top F1 Teams of all time according to their titles and wins:
Ferrari
Races entered: 1032
Constructors’ championships: 16
Drivers’ championships: 15
Race victories: 237
Podiums: 773
Pole Positions: 230
Fastest laps: 253
It’s not surprising that Ferrari is at the top of this list. The team has started more Grands Prix (over 100) than any other constructor. It also began racing in Formula One eight years before any other team on this list and sixteen years before any other team that is still competing with them.
Ferrari has also won more races, had more 1-2 finishes, podiums, pole positions, fastest laps, and points than any other team in Formula One history. After the constructors’ title was invented in 1958, it took Ferrari four seasons to win its first.
The American-German team of Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips won the first championship in 1961, giving Hill the Drivers’ crown despite not competing in the US final race (after von Trips tragically lost his life at the penultimate round in Italy).
Since then, Ferrari has won numerous championships in a row. It won championships in the 1970s with drivers like Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, and Gilles Villeneuve, and won a few more in the early 1980s with Villeneuve (though not this time with a drivers’ crown).
Ferrari is no doubt the most iconic team in F1 Racing. Ferrari’s F1 team drivers dominate any racetrack they step onto.
Williams
Races entered: 685
Constructors’ championships: 9
Drivers’ championships: 7
Race victories: 114
Podiums: 302
Pole Positions: 128
Fastest Laps: 133
Williams’ inclusion on this list may have the most incredible streak of all. The Grove team from Oxfordshire only participated in its first race as a constructor in 1977, but by 1980 it had already won one title and went on to win eight more over the following seventeen years.
Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, and Jacques Villeneuve all won championships during the era of domination. Williams has a prestigious cast of characters behind the scenes as well.
Most of the early winners were inspired by Patrick Head’, and he was followed by Adrian Newey, a man whose name has become synonymous with building incredibly fast racing cars.
Williams checked out after Newey left, and Villeneuve helped win the 1997 championship. It is still racing today, but with the exception of a brief period of competitiveness with BMW in the early 2000s, Williams has never been a true contender.
McLaren
Races entered: 863
Constructors’ championships: 8
Drivers’ championships: 12
Race victories: 183
Podiums: 487
Pole Positions: 156
Fastest Laps: 159
Unlike other great F1 teams, such as Ferrari, McLaren has always built only chassis and purchased engines from other manufacturers, such as Porsche, Mercedes, Ford, Honda, or Renault. McLaren has also created racing cars for various championships as a manufacturer.
It was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, who had raced in F1 with Cooper since 1959 and with his own team since 1966. Bruce McLaren finished on the podium twice and won once before dying in an accident at another race in 1970.
Team Lotus
Races entered: 491
Constructors’ championships: 7
Drivers’ championships: 6
Race victories: 74
Podiums: 165
Pole Positions: 102
Fastest Laps: 65
Lotus is one of the most recognizable teams in F1 history. The team will be remembered for the legendary John Player Special tobacco branded gold and black livery, which is inextricably linked to F1.
Team Lotus was a British racing team owned by Lotus Cars and founded by Colin Chapman. It competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1994 and remains one of the most successful teams in history, having won seven constructors’ championships and six drivers’ championships. They also competed in numerous races, including the Indy 500, which they won in 1965 and 1978.
Mercedes
Races entered: 248
Constructors’ championships: 8
Drivers’ championships: 9
Race victories: 124
Podiums: 263
Pole Positions: 135
Fastest Laps: 94
There is a valid case to be made that both Brawn’s and Tyrrell’s single constructor titles should be included in this legacy. However, the Mercedes team only has six F1 titles to its name. There are two reasons for this.
The first is that Mercedes’ first dominant period in F1 occurred prior to the invention of the world title.
The great Juan Manuel Fangio won two titles driving Mercs in the 1950s, but no constructor’s crown to be won at the time.
Second, following the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Mercedes decided to withdraw from motorsport, and the company would not return to F1 as a constructor until 2010.
Bottom line
There are other top F1 teams on the list that deserve an honorable mention:
- Renault
- Red Bull
- Cooper
- Brabham
Aside from being a dangerous and exciting sport, F1 racing has a fascinating history, but there are a lot of teams and fans willing to support it which makes the sport thrive.
Stay updated with F1 news and other sports news here on this site.