By: Shaelyn Winters
Edited By: Kylie Augis
There are ten teams on the 2023 Formula 1 grid. Here is your basic guide to each team, including a brief synopsis of their initiation into the sport, historical success and current standings in the Constructors and Drivers Championships as of the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.
Oracle Red Bull Racing – The history of Red Bull in Formula 1 begins as Ford purchased Stewart Grand Prix Racing, a team which had only competed in three seasons, and converted it to Jaguar Racing in 1999. It was only five years later in 2004 that the energy drink company would purchase Jaguar Racing for one American dollar, signifying the start of the team's quick path to success in the sport.
Since their inaugural season in 2005, the team has won five Constructors Championships and six Drivers Championships, including four with Sebastian Vettel and two with current driver Max Verstappen. As of the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull leads the Constructors’ Championship with 249 points. Max Verstappen leads the Drivers’ Championship (144 points) with Sergio Perez close behind in second place (105 points).
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant originally entered Formula 1 in 1959 and are located in Silverstone, United Kingdom. Originally, the team competed in only five races over two seasons due to recurring technical issues with the team's lone car, the DBR4. Following their departure in 1960, it would take the team nearly 60 years to reestablish their position in Formula 1. With the help of funding from Lawrence Stroll, the owner of Racing Point F1 Team who competed in two seasons (2019 and 2020), Aston Martin found its way back to Formula 1 and entered in the 2021 season.
As a result, the team is still considered to be significantly new to the sport with only 55 race starts as of the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix. Aston Martin currently occupies second place in the Constructors Championship with 120 points. Notably, the team has doubled the amount of points they achieved in the 2022 season: with 55 points. In the Drivers’ Championship, Fernando Alonso sits in third (93 points) and Lance Stroll trails behind his partner in eighth (27 points).
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 – The current namesake has raced in Formula 1 since 2010 and is located in Brackley, England. However, Mercedes’ origin in Formula 1 reaches back to 1954 with Juan Manuel Fangio’s Drivers Championships in 1954 and 1955 before their departure following the 1955 Le Mans disaster. Its predecessors include Tyrrell Racing (1968-1998), British American Racing (1999-2005), Honda Racing F1 (2006-2008) and Brawn GP (2009). Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team emerged following an investment in Brawn GP.
Nico Rosberg competed for the team alongside teammate Michael Schumacher, who made his Formula 1 comeback before being replaced by Lewis Hamilton in 2013. Since his inauguration to Mercedes, Hamilton has won seven championships and helped the team alongside teammates Rosberg and Valteri Bottas accomplish 8 Constructors Championships. Presently, Mercedes maintains third place in the Constructors’ Championship with 119 points. In the Drivers’ Championship, Lewis Hamilton leads his teammate in fourth place (69 points) as George Russell follows closely behind in fifth (50 points).
Scuderia Ferrari joined Formula 1 in 1950 and are located in Maranello, Italy. They maintain the position as the sole team to have participated in every season since the sports’ inception. The team has achieved the highest success in Formula 1 history with 16 Constructors’ Championships and 15 Drivers’ Championships, of which Michael Schumacher won five.
Other notable names to compete with Ferrari include (but are certainly not limited to) Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, John Surtees and Niki Lauda, who all won respective championships with the team. Through six races in the 2023 Formula 1 season, Ferrari currently upholds fourth place in the Constructors Championship with 90 points. In the Drivers’ Championship, Carlos Sainz maintains sixth (48 points) and Charles Leclerc follows close behind in seventh (42 points).
BWT Alpine F1 Team – While the team name Alpine was officially launched into Formula 1 in 2021, the name was utilized as part of the remodeling of Renault F1 Team. Its headquarters are located in Enstone, United Kingdom with a second home in Viry-Châtillon, France. Two-time Drivers’ Champion Fernando Alonso raced for Alpine in both its inaugural and 2022 seasons alongside Esteban Ocon, who achieved the team's only race win at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Similarly to Aston Martin, racing under the Alpine denomination is still relatively new and as a result, the team has experienced limited success in its previous two seasons. They have completed a total 50 race starts and achieved three podiums. Alpine currently occupies fifth place in the Constructors Championship with 35 points. In the Drivers’ Championship, Estaban Ocon maintains ninth place (21 points) followed by Pierre Gasly in tenth (14 points).
McLaren Racing Limited entered its first Formula 1 race in 1966 and are located in Woking, United Kingdom. The team follows Scuderia Ferrari for the second longest run in Formula 1, having raced consecutively for 56 years. While the teams’ most recent run in with success was Lewis Hamilton’s championship victory in 2008, his second season in Formula 1, McLaren has achieved 11 additional Drivers’ Championships and 8 Constructors’ Championships in its history.
Other notable drivers to win championships with McLaren include (but are certainly not limited to) Emerson Fittipaldi, Alain Prot, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. Presently, McLaren sits in sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 17 points, of which Lando Norris (11th place) has achieved 12 points and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, has achieved 5 (13th place).
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team joined Formula 1 in 2016 as an all-American team with its headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina and its secondary home in Banbury, England. It is the Formula 1 equivalent to NASCAR’s Stewart-Haas Racing team.
The team has not experienced significant success since their emergence in Formula 1 – their highest race finish is fourth position which was achieved by Romain Grosjean at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. As of the Monaco Grand Prix, the team possesses seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship with 8 points. Of those points, Nico Hülkenberg has achieved 6 and resides in twelfth place while Kevin Magnussen has collected 2 and sits in seventeenth place.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake – The name Alfa Romeo has existed in Formula 1 since 1950 as the team won back-to-back Drivers Championships in the sports first two seasons: Nino Farina in 1950 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951. The team made its first of two departures from the sport in 1952 due to a lack of funding but remained involved in the contribution of engines starting in the 1960s.
The team re-entered the field between 1979-1985 before its second departure due to an unpromising car. The team would not return until 2019 where Alfa Romeo would be the new namesake for Sauber Motorsport AMG. The team is located in Hinwil, Zürich, Switzerland and has entered 198 total races, but has yet to achieve another championship. Currently, the team maintains eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 6 points. In the Drivers’ Championship, Valteri Bottas holds fourteenth position (4 points) ahead of his teammate Zhou Guanyu in fifteenth (2 points).
AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT– While the namesake AlphaTauri joined Formula 1 in 2020, the team can be traced back to Minardi (1985-2005) and Toro Rosso (2006-2019). The emergence of Toro Rosso in 2006 was an effort by Red Bull Racing to establish younger drivers within their organization.
Notably, Sebastian Vettel was developed through Toro Rosso in 2008 before accomplishing four back-to-back Drivers’ Championships with Red Bull Racing from 2010-2013. Max Verstappen also competed with Toro Rosso before joining Red Bull Racing in 2016. In 2019, the team rebranded itself as AlphaTauri and have since accomplished two podiums in 67 races. Their only race victory was accomplished by Pierre Gasly at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. AlphaTauri occupies ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 2 points, both of which have been achieved by the sixteenth placeholder Yuki Tsunoda. Nyck de Vries, currently in nineteenth, has yet to earn a point with the team.