The role of team principal is fairly important in Formula One, as the principal is responsible for hiring and firing drivers and personnel. The TP also has many sporting decisions to make.
A good principal will bring a team forward; a bad one can easily turn an operation into a mess.
Here are our rankings of the current team principals in F1, with some additional notes on future potential principals. If you want to see our list of greatest ever TP’s, then check this article!
1. Toto Wolff (Mercedes)
He had the foresight to buy into Mercedes just when the team was about to become a force. That wasn’t luck – it was a great decision.
Ever since, Toto Wolff has been an excellent boss at Brackley. He is a bit whiny, but the team dominated for years, and despite losing supremacy after the changes in 2022, Mercedes have still been among the best teams in the sport. Managing a top team for so long is no easy task.
Bringing the Silver Arrows back to the front in 2026 has cemented Wolff’s position as F1’s best team principal. It’s also impressive to see how he is coaching Antonelli and constantly taking pressure off of his shoulders.
In terms of driver decisions, it should be said that Wolff has made a few questionable choices: He kept Bottas around for far too long, and he arguably promoted Antonelli a bit too early. But these are fairly minor errors. If he manages to sign Verstappen in the future, he will enter the conversation for greatest ever team principal.
2. Andrea Stella (McLaren)
He was a solid engineer for years, and now he is doing well as a principal. Stella’s responsibility as a principal are more limited, as Zak Brown is doing a lot of the work as well, but no one can deny the success Stella has had during his current tenure.
The more influence McLaren have given him, the more success they have achieved. He has been the principal since 2023, and while the recent McLaren success is mainly down to their designers and aerodynamicists, we simply cannot ignore Stella’s calm and solid leadership.
3. Mattia Binotto (Audi)
It’s a shame that Jonathan Wheatley left Audi, but at least they still have Mattia Binotto.
I always thought Binotto was underrated as the Ferrari principal. His best role is probably as a CTO, but he will still be a solid team principal. Binotto is more experienced than most of the guys on this list, and he has more technical knowledge than almost anyone.
4. Flavio Briatore (Alpine)
While Alpine are a mess right now, we know that Briatore is highly capable of success. He is controversial, yes, but no one can deny his achievements.
Briatore is great at maximising the potential of teams that don’t necessarily have the most resources – so he should be succesful in this budget-cap era. Flavio has a cut-throat mentality that modern leaders lack.
Moving to Mercedes engines might be beneficial in the short team and secure Alpine more points in 2026. But the team no longer has manufacturer status and it severely limits the future upside. Briatore also needs to find a long-term lead driver for the team. Gasly is better suited as a second-driver, and it’s debatable whether Colapinto should even be in F1.
5. Laurent Mekies (Red Bull)
His track record is fairly average, but Mekies does have a lot of experience and seems to be well-liked by drivers and mechanics.
After he took over at Racing Bulls in 2024, the team saw some improvement and built a really solid car for the following year.
Perhaps a bit surprisingly, he was promoted to be the principal of the main Red Bull team in the middle of 2025. And despite a tough start, they did improve in performance a few months into Mekies’ tenure and Verstappen – surprisingly – fought for the title. Red Bull practically equalled McLaren in performance by the end of the year.
Sadly, Red Bull have struggled with the new regulations. Mekies will have to work overtime to lead the team and secure a top four position in the WCC. But the most important task for him is convincing Verstappen to stay. Let’s see if he can pull it off.
6. Ayao Komatsu (Haas)
It seems like Haas are doing better under Komatsu, and that would be true. But only by default as they had a truly horrible team principal (Günther Steiner) before.
Komatsu is decent, though. Not a fantastic principal, but not a horrible one either. Haas operated relatively well in 2024, and despite a step back in car performance in 2025, Komatsu at least made an effort to improve the driver lineup.
With Haas being the least-funded team on the grid, it will be difficult for the Japanese TP to achieve major success. But if he can keep Haas around the sixth-to-eighth range in the WCC, it will be an accomplishment. Komatsu should preferably focus on younger talents. Bearman proved to be a great signing; and he needs to make sure to contract Rafael Câmara for 2027 when Bearman inevitably gets promoted to Ferrari.
Building closer ties with Toyota is a priority task for Komatsu, to secure a better future for the team. Otherwise, Haas will be stuck to the lower end of the midfield forever.
7. James Vowles (Williams)
He was a highly regarded strategist for years, so James Vowles has already proven his worth in F1. While things are progressing rather slowly at Williams, he has indeed managed to make the team more efficient. He also put together the best lineup of the midfield – and perhaps one of the best overall lineups – with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Securing Sainz’s services was an impressive feat, as the Spaniard was also wanted by several other teams.
With fifth place in the 2025 WCC, Vowles looked to be bringing his team back in the right direction. Unfortunately, it did not carry over to 2026 as Williams didn’t handle the new regulations very well, despite having the best engine.
Vowles clearly does some things well, but he is overrated as a team principal and Williams should start looking at other options.
8. Frédéric Vasseur (Ferrari)
A super overrated team principal. It was already head-scratching when Ferrari announced that he would take over from Binotto (who was actually a decent TP).
Vasseur was a solid leader in the junior ladder series, where the stakes are smaller, and where the principal mainly just has to manage his drivers well. But he didn’t have much success in F1 at Renault nor at Sauber. In fact, Sauber improved in many ways after he left.
And sure enough, Ferrari have only declined since Vasseur took over. The Scuderia went winless in 2025, with a star-driver in Hamilton not even reaching a single podium, so it might be time to consider a new leader of the team.
For one reason or another, Vasseur is liked by the drivers and the media. But with his below-average management skills, it is unlikely that Ferrari will ever win a title under him. They should try to snatch Andrea Stella from McLaren.
9. Alan Permane (Racing Bulls)
It’s too early to say whether Alan Permane is a good team principal or not. He’s only had a short time in the role, after all.
During his time at Renault/Lotus/Alpine, results were very mixed. He was well regarded as an engineer, okay as a sporting director, and then – perhaps wrongly – let go by Alpine. Let’s see what he can do at Racing Bulls.
10. Adrian Newey (Aston Martin)
As a designer, Newey is obviously the greatest ever. As a team principal, he remains a question-mark. It doesn’t really matter, as Jonathan Wheatley is taking over this position eventually. So far, Newey has been a disaster as a principal, but again, it doesn’t matter too much.
