The Top Formula 1 Teams Named After Their Owners

by Ewan

Now Ross Brawn has his own F1 team, with his name on it, he follows a long line of team owner racing under their own name.

Naming your Formula 1 team can sometimes be difficult. Colin Chapman decided Lotus sounded quite nice, and Tony Vandervell went with the more British sounding Vanwall. but there are an elite number who just went with their own name. As Ross Brawn joins that group, we at The Daily Dust have decided to look back at the great Formula 1 teams that shared their name with their owners.

Tyrrell

With one constructors championship, and three drivers championship (through Jackie Stewart), Ken Tyrrell’s team was quintessentially British through the 60s and 70s, progressing from Formula 3 and 2 before reaching the top level with a mix of home-grown and bought chassis and the amazing Cosworth DFV engine. Sadly he sold the team in 1997, and it was passed to British American Racing, which then became Honda, and is now Brawn GP.

Ferrari

Probably the most recognisable name in motoring, let alone Formula 1, Enzo Ferrari’s team was built from the dreams of the ten year old Enzo and his brother Dino racing around the streets of Bologna. From childhood passion, to ruling the world, the mystique of Ferrari is rarely rivalled.

McLaren

British? Well they are now, but Australian New Zealander (whoops) Bruce McLaren wanted to race his own cars, and set up the team in 1963, starting a long and continued successful fixture of F1. Merging with Ron Dennis’ Project Four Racing in 1980, the team continue to remember Bruce (who died testing cars in 1970), running their prototype cars in his favourite Orange colour.

Williams

After Davros and Stephen Hawking, is Frank Williams one of the best Brits who use a wheelchair? Probably. And while the Williams F1 team might be in a fallow period, they’ve been around since the mid seventies, and were one of the dominant teams in the 80s and 90s, giving both Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell drivers championships. F1 wouldn’t feel the same if Frank wasn’t there.

Minardi

Every racing series needs the team with heart. in Disney movies they invariably win, but F1 isn’t a movie (cough… Driven). Nevertheless Minardi is fondly remembered as the team that celebrated every precious points they scored as if they had one the championship. Giancarlo Minardi saw his team run in F1 in 1984 after many years in F2, and while they never won a race, they won over everyone.

And they had the best coffee machine in the pitlane.

Jordan

Eddie Jordan, the Irishman who wanted to race, and probably the last ‘privateer’ who started a team on his own, without help from a car manufacturer. And didn’t he do well, with victories at Spa and an overall third place in the championship their best year. Sold on in 2005, Jordan is now joining the BBC commentary team, while the racing passed through the hands of MF1 and Spyker to now be on the grid as Force India F1.

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