Characters / Formula 1: Drive to Survive

Every "character" in this show is a real person, therefore this page is exclusively documenting the manner in which the show frames them.

Beware of unmarked spoilers ahead!

---

Drivers

Daniel Ricciardo (#3)

Ricciardo

Born July 1, 1989

Car # 3

Australian driver whose decision to leave Red Bull for Renault was one of the overarching stories of season 1.Teams:

Season One (2018): Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Season Two (2019): Renault

Season Three (2020): Renault

Season Four (2021): McLaren

Season Five (2022): McLaren

Season Six (2023): Oracle Red Bull Racing (reserve driver) -> Scuderia AlphaTauri^note Fills in for Nyck De Vries after the 2023 British Grand Prix as a result of the former's contract being terminated due to underperforming. However, Ricciardo would be sidelined for five Grands Prix due to a metacarpal bone injury, prompting reserve driver Liam Lawson to temporarily take over his seat until the 2023 United States Grand Prix.

---

• Badass Driver: He has multiple Grand Prix wins and considered one of the best at timing braking and overtakes in the business.
• Large Ham: well, he's Daniel Ricciardo after all.

Max Verstappen (#33)^note #1 from 2022 season onwards since he's the incumbent world champion.

Verstappen

Born September 30, 1997

Car # 33 -> 1 (as a world champion)

Dutch driver, and the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen.Teams:

Season One (2018): Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Season Two (2019): Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Season Three (2020): Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Season Four (2021): Red Bull Racing Honda

Season Five (2022): Oracle Red Bull Racing (switching numbers to 1 as the defending champion)

Season Six (2023): Oracle Red Bull Racing

---

• Badass Driver: While the Mercedes team still has the vastly dominant car, Max is talented enough to consistently fight with them for podiums. While driving for Red Bull, he's also gotten to drive F1 cars in very abnormal conditions that it is very much not designed for - like a snowy ski-slope.
• It Runs in the Family: His father Jos is a former F1 driver.
• Out of Focus: After Season 1 due to his refusal to take part in the series because of it misrepresenting him and his relationship with Daniel Ricciardo. Season 4 uses Christian Horner & audio from interviews with other sources to represent his perspective of his title fight with Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz Jr. (#55)

Sainz

Born September 1, 1994

Car # 55

Spanish driver. His father and uncle are both rally drivers, with his father being 2-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz Sr.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Renault

Season Two (2019): McLaren

Season Three (2020): McLaren

Season Four (2021): Ferrari

Season Five (2022): Ferrari

Season Six (2023): Ferrari

---

• Badass Driver: By definition of being an F1 driver.
• It Runs in the Family: As several drivers point out anyone who is racing in F1 is a little crazy, given the danger and high level of competitiveness and commitment required, and Sainz is far from the first member of his family to dedicate decades of their lives to racing.

Charles Leclerc (#16)

Leclerc

Born October 16, 1997

Car # 16

Charles Leclerc is a Monégasque driver currently signed to Ferrari, whose rookie year in Formula 1 corresponded with the first season of Drive to Survive. He is the godson of Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi who tragically died at age 25 due to injuries sustained in a crash in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Sauber Motorsport

Season Two (2019): Ferrari

Season Three (2020): Ferrari

Season Four (2021): Ferrari

Season Five (2022): Ferrari

Season Six (2023): Ferrari

---

• Badass Driver: Won the 2016 GP3 Series championship, 2017 Formula 2 championship, two F1 Grands Prix and made it to the podium in F1 12 times in 3 years, finishing 4th overall in the 2019 championship.
• The Cutie: In spite of losing two of his childhood friends and his father - who all kickstarted his racing career, he still maintains a notoriously humble and innocent personality which has gained him a lot of fans.
• Determinator: in spite of the setbacks he has suffered, he doesn't let them consume him.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Of course, his humility means that he's also very hard on himself. He has had many outbursts, which usually happen after he makes a mistake that costs him a race weekend; a stand-out example is him saying "I am stupid" after crashing out of Q2 in the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, or in the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix after losing his podium on the last corners of the last lap after a locking up his brakes.

Pierre Gasly (#10)

Gasly

Born: February 7, 1996

Car # 10

A French driver who rose through the Red Bull junior racing program. After Daniel Riccardo, who drove for Red Bull for 5 years prior, signed with Renault for 2019 Pierre Gasly was moved to replace him, though this placement didn't even last through a single season.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Scuderia Toro Rosso

Season Two (2019): Aston Martin Red Bull Racing -> Scuderia Toro Rosso

Season Three (2020): Scuderia AlphaTauri

Season Four (2021): Scuderia AlphaTauri

Season Five (2022): Scuderia AlphaTauri

Season Six (2023): Alpine

---

• Badass Driver: Despite his difficulty adjusting to the Red Bull team and car, he has more than proven himself a competitive driver in Toro Rosso. At the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, Gasly managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton and finish in second.
• Dare to Be Badass: One of the last things Anthoine Hubert told him when he got demoted to Toro Rosso from Red Bull, shortly before his fatal crash, was "to prove them (Marko, Horner) wrong". And he did.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Esteban Ocon. Not helped that he ends up in the same room as him in Alpine. Their collision in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix further widened that rift.

Nico Hülkenberg (#27)

Hulk

Born August 19, 1987

Car # 27

A German driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Renault

Season Two (2019): Renault

Season Three (2020): Racing Point (reserve driver)

Season Four (2021): Aston Martin (reserve driver)

Season Five (2022): Aston Martin (reserve driver)

Season Six (2023): Haas

---

• Badass Driver: By definition of being an F1 driver.

Fernando Alonso (#14)

Alonso

Born: July 29, 1981

Car # 14

Spanish driver and two time Formula One World Championship winner, taking the title in 2005 and 2006. In racing outside of Formula One he is a two time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner in 2018 and 2019, and the champion of the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship. He's also raced the IndyCar Indianapolis 500 three times, but hasn't made any significant results. Fernando is one of only two active drivers who have attained two of the three victories that would make up the "Triple Crown of Motorsport" (an unofficial achievement that has only ever been attained by Graham Hill), only missing a win at the Indianapolis 500.

Teams:

Season One (2018): McLaren

Season Two (2019): N/A (technically McLaren but not as a driver)

Season Three (2020): N/A

Season Four (2021): Alpine

Season Five (2022): Alpine

Season Six (2023): Aston Martin

---

• Badass Driver: An extremely competitive driver in multiple series and a two time Formula One World Champion and two time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.

Esteban Ocon

Ocon

Born: September 17, 1996

Esteban Ocon is a French driver who drove for Force India in season one. He lost his drive with the team to Lance Stroll when Lawrence Stroll lead a group of investors to purchase Force India's assets and he was unable to secure a position on the grid for 2019, although he still managed to snag the Mercedes reserve driver slot.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Force India

Season Two (2019): Mercedes (reserve driver)

Season Three (2020): Renault

Season Four (2021): Alpine

Season Five (2022): Alpine

Season Six (2023): Alpine

---

• Badass Driver: F1 driver

Sergio Pérez

Pérez

Born: January 26, 1990

Sergio Pérez Mendoza is a Mexican driver who was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy until 2012, during which time he raced on the Sauber team. He signed with Force India in 2013 and has remained with the team through several changes of hands and names.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Force India

Season Two (2019): Racing Point

Season Three (2020): Racing Point

Season Four (2021): Red Bull Racing Honda

Season Five (2022): Oracle Red Bull Racing

Season Six (2023): Oracle Red Bull Racing

---

• Badass Driver: BY definition of being an F1 driver, and also one of the only two Mexicans to win a Grand Prix.
• Out of Focus: While the drama of team ownership and driver seats and competition at Force India was one of the stories followed in season one the second season had very little footage focusing on the team as they focused on rebuilding.

Lewis Hamilton (#44)

Lewis

Born: January 7, 1985

Lewis Hamilton is a British driver and the seven-time reigning Formula One World Champion, having won in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Mercedes

Season Two (2019): Mercedes

Season Three (2020): Mercedes

Season Four (2021): Mercedes

Season Five (2022): Mercedes

Season Six (2023): Mercedes

---

• The Ace/Renaissance Man: Oh so much. Not only he's widely regarded as one of if not the greatest Formula One driver of all time, but he's also put his name out there as a part-time musician (he landed a guest spot in Christina Aguilera's latest album as XNDA, to everyone's surprise) and as a social activist, having used his worldwide fame to give more light and exposure to the Black Lives Matter movement and even participating in several protests.
• Badass Driver: He's a stand-out example even by F1's usual standards. Seven-time Formula One World Champion, having won the championship on multiple teams and in multiple cars. He's managed to equal, and then surpass, the F1 Grand Prix, matching Michael Schumacher's 91 victories.
• Out of Focus: As Mercedes did not participate in the Netflix deal for season one, Hamilton spends the season as that driver out front of most races everyone would really like to overtake without getting any screen time of his own.

Valtteri Bottas (#77)

Valtteri

Born: August 28, 1989

Valtteri Bottas is a Finnish racing driver who got his start in F1 driving for Williams before being brought onto the Mercedes team to replace Nico Rosberg when the reigning world champion opted to retire from racing in order to focus on his family and leave the sport on a high note.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Mercedes

Season Two (2019): Mercedes

Season Three (2020): Mercedes

Season Four (2021): Mercedes

Season Five (2022): Alfa Romeo

Season Six (2023): Alfa Romeo

---

• Badass Driver: By definition of being an F1 driver.
• Out of Focus: Bottas is not featured in season one as Mercedes did not participate, so he only appears in the background, and in the following season is well overshadowed in Mercedes coverage by his teammate Hamilton, team principal Wolff and team reserve driver who didn't even race in F1 that year Ocon.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Bottas regularly makes it to the podium - which is an impressive achievement, but he's vastly overshadowed by his teammate Hamilton who is considered to possibly be the best driver in the history of the sport. It doesn't help that he was brought in to replace Nico Rosberg, the last driver to defeat Hamilton for the championship.

Alexander Albon (#23)

Alex

Born: March 23, 1996

Car #: 23

A Thai-British driver who got his first F1 drive in 2019 with Toro Rosso but was dramatically shifted to Red Bull's primary team mid-season replacing Pierre Gasly.

Teams:

Season One (2018): N/A

Season Two (2019): Toro Rosso->Red Bull Aston Martin Racing

Season Three (2020): Red Bull Aston Martin Racing

Season Four (2021): Red Bull Racing Honda (Test and Reserve Driver)

Season Five (2022): Williams (with an option to be called back to Red Bull for 2023)

Season Six (2023): Williams

---

• Alliterative Name: Alexander Albon Ansusinha
• Badass Driver: F1 driver, and the only Asian driver to score multiple podiums.

George Russell (#63)

Russell

Born: Feb 15, 1998

Car #: 63

A British driver who signed with Williams in 2019.

Teams:

Season One (2018): N/A

Season Two (2019): Williams

Season Three (2020): Williams, Mercedes^note Filling in for Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir GP

Season Four (2021): Williams

Season Five (2022): Mercedes

Season Six (2023): Mercedes

---

• Badass Driver: Was the reigning Formula 2 champion when Williams signed him for their F1 team.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: At one point while he's joking around with Claire (his team principal) and sabotaging her slot car race she asks if he remembers who pays him.

Robert Kubica (#88)

Kubica

Born: Dec 7, 1984

Car #: 88

A Polish driver who was working as a test driver for Williams after a near fatal Career-Ending Injury in a crash in 2011. Williams signed him as of their drivers in 2019, where he earned the team their single point of the season. He left after the season to focus on DTM, but maintains a presence in the sport as one of the reserve/test drivers for Alfa Romeo.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Williams (reserve driver)

Season Two (2019): Williams

Season Three (2020): Alfa Romeo (reserve driver)

Season Four (2021): Alfa Romeo (reserve driver)

Season Five (2022): Alfa Romeo (reserve driver)

---

• Badass Driver: F1 driver, but also a rally aficionado outside of the track. In fact, he won the 2013 WRC2 Driver's Championship!
• Determinator: Kubica actually made it back on the grid after 8 years after a crash in 2011 left him with a mostly severed arm and he was unable to take his expected seat with Ferrari due to his injuries and difficult recovery. At first many believed that would be a Career-Ending Injury, but he never stopped racing (in fact his first post-injury race was a minor rally in 2012, which he won). Only his Formula 1 career was expected to end due to him never recovering the full motion of his arm.

Lando Norris (#4)

Norris

Born: Nov 13, 1999

Car #: 4

A British driver who signed with McLaren in 2019.

Teams:

Season One (2018): N/A

Season Two (2019): McLaren

Season Three (2020): McLaren

Season Four (2021): McLaren

Season Five (2022): McLaren

Season Six (2023): McLaren

---

• Ascended Extra: More prominently featured in season 3 as his results improve and he helps McLaren clinch third place in the 2020 constructors' championship.
• Badass Driver: F1 driver
• Out of Focus: Lando's appearance in season 2 amounted to a cameo, in which another driver asked him if he was going to be in that season of Drive to Survive and Lando replied "Fuck Netflix".
• Plucky Comic Relief: His only line in the second season is a joke. He, along with Ricciardo, are considered this for the entirety of F1.
• Pretty Boy: Being one of the youngest drivers of the grid, he's the butt of many jokes regarding his juvenile looks (just ask Ricciardo).

Nicholas Latifi (#6)

Latifi

Born: June 29, 1995

Teams:

Season One (2018): Force India (reserve driver)

Season Two (2019): Williams (reserve driver)

Season Three (2020): Williams

Season Four (2021): Williams

Season Five (2022): Williams

---

• Bad Ass Driver: By definition of being a Formula One Driver.

Mick Schumacher (#47)

Schumacher

Born: Mar 22, 1999

Teams:

Season One (2018): N/A

Season Two (2019): N/A

Season Three (2020): N/A

Season Four (2021): Haas

Season Five (2022): Haas

Season Six (2023): Mercedes (reserve driver)

---

• Bad Ass Driver: By definition of being a Formula One Driver.
• Legacy Character: The son of 7 time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher. Mick uses the 'MSC' abbreviation for his name for TV coverage, just as his father did before him.

Nikita Mazepin (#9)

Mazepin

Born: Mar 2, 1999

Teams:

Season One (2018): N/A

Season Two (2019): N/A

Season Three (2020): N/A

Season Four (2021): Haas

Season Five (2022): N/A (Was supposed to race for Haas, but his contract was terminated in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen)

---

• Bad Ass Driver: By definition of being a Formula One Driver.

Zhou Guanyu (#9)

Zhou

Born: May 30, 1999

Teams:

Season One (2018): N/A

Season Two (2019): N/A

Season Three (2020): N/A

Season Four (2021): N/A

Season Five (2022): Alfa Romeo

Season Six (2023): Alfa Romeo

---

• Bad Ass Driver: By definition of being a Formula One Driver.

Sergey Sirotkin

Sirotkin

Born: Aug 27, 1995

Teams:

Season One (2018): Williams

Season Two (2019): Renault & McLaren (reserve driver)

Season Three (2020): Renault (reserve driver)

Season Four (2021): N/A

Season Five (2022): N/A

---

• Badass Driver: By definition of being an F1 driver.
• Put on a Bus: While Sirotkin was a reserve driver at the time, he didn't appear in the series between losing his Williams seat after 2018 & leaving Williams entirely after 2020.

Marcus Ericsson

Ericsson

Born: Sept 2, 1990

Marcus Ericsson is a Swiss former Formula One driver who raced in the championship from 2014 to 2018.

Teams:

Season One (2018): Sauber

Season Two (2019): Sauber (reserve driver)

Season Three (2020): N/A (Moved to IndyCar)

Season Four (2021): N/A

Season Five (2022): N/A

---

• Badass Driver: By definition of being an F1 and IndyCar driver.
• Put on a Bus: While Ericsson was not completely disassociated with Formula 1 after losing his seat on the grid after 2018 as he was still a reserve driver, he did not appear in Season 2 and didn't appear in Season 3 or season 4 as he has moved to IndyCar full-time.

Jules Bianchi

Jules

August 3, 1989 — July 17, 2015

Car # 17 (retired)

A French F1 driver who tragically passed away at the age of 25 due to injuries sustained in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. He was the godfather of current F1 driver Charles Leclerc.

Teams:

(2013): Marussia

(2014): Marussia

---

• Badass Driver: An accomplished racer and F1 driver who was expected to become the future of Ferrari.
• Posthumous Character: Jules is one of the very few former F1 drivers to be spoken about and shown footage of, and he passed away three years before Season 1 filming began.

Niki Lauda

Niki

February 22, 1949 – May 20, 2019

Car # multiple

A former F1 driver and three time champion who has been one of the key management figures helping develop the incredibly dominant Mercedes team.

Teams:

(1972): March

(1973): BRM

(1974-1977): Ferrari

(1978-1979): Brabham

(1982-1985): McLaren

---

• Badass Driver: Niki was a three time F1 champion who got right back in a car as soon as he was able after a near fatal accident in which he was badly burned and suffered damage to his lungs.

Teams

Alfa Romeo (formerly Sauber)

Drivers

Zhou Guanyu (2022-present)

Valtteri Bottas (2022-present)

Kimi Räikkönen (2019-2021)

Antonio Giovinazzi (2019-2021)

Charles Leclerc (2018)

Marcus Ericsson (2015-2018)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Ferrari

Season Two (2019): Ferrari

Season Three (2020): Ferrari

Season Four (2021): Ferrari

Season Five (2022): Ferrari

Season Six (2023): Ferrari

Alfa Romeo/Sauber

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, formerly Sauber Motorsport AG

Headquarters: Hinwil, Zürich, Switzerland

Owner(s) Longbow Finance S.A.

Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur (2017-2022), Alessandro Alluni Bravi (2023-present)

Technical Chief Jan Monchaux

---

• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Dark Red

Alpine (formerly Renault)

Race Drivers

Pierre Gasly (2023-present)

Fernando Alonso (2021-2022)

Esteban Ocon (2020-present)

Daniel Ricciardo (2019-2020)

Carlos Sainz Jr. (2017-2018)

Nico Hülkenberg (2017-2019)

Reserve & Test Drivers

Sergey Sirotkin (2019-2020)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Renault

Season Two (2019): Renault

Season Three (2020): Renault - Renault E-Tech 20

Season Four (2021): Renault - Renault E-Tech

Season Five (2022): Renault - Renault E-Tech

Season Six (2023): Renault - Renault E-Tech

Alpine

BWT Alpine F1 Team formerly Renault DP World F1 Team

Headquarters: Viry-Châtillon, Essonne, France

Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul (2014-2020), Marcin Budkowski (2021), Otmar Szafnauer (2022-2023),

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Blue, formerly Yellow

AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso)

Drivers

Nyck De Vries (2023)^note De Vries only lasted for 10 Grands Prix before his contract is terminated due to underperforming. He would then be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo starting the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards.

Daniel Ricciardo (2023-present)

Pierre Gasly (2017-2022)

Yuki Tsunoda (2021-present)

Daniil Kvyat (2014, 2016-2017, 2019-2020)

Alexander Albon (2019)

Brendon Hartley (2017-2018)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Honda

Season Two (2019): Honda

Season Three (2020): Honda

Season Four (2021): Honda

Season Five (2022): Red Bull Powertrains (Power units still developed by Honda)

Season Six (2023): Honda-Red Bull Powertrains

AlphaTauri/Toro Rosso

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda

Headquarters: Faenza, Italy

Team Principal Franz Tost

Advisor Helmut Marko

Red Bull's secondary team. The fact that their drivers are contracted to Red Bull makes for a dramatic shake up when Pierre Gasly failed to perform to Christian Horner's expectations during the 2019 season and he was dropped back to their secondary team with rookie Alexander Albon pulled up from the team to replace him at Red Bull.

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Blue
• The Trope Formerly Known as X: Before assuming their new identity as Red Bull's feeder team they raced as Minardi, a team that has gained notoriety as a plucky underdog in the late 90s and early 2000s; despite their perpetual backmarker status, they still gained a lot of sympathy for their great management, friendly atmosphere and ability to constantly participate in races in spite of having a ridiculously shoestring budget. After being sold to Red Bull in 2006 they changed their name to Toro Rosso - which literally translates to Red Bull in Italian. In 2020 they were renamed again as AlphaTauri to help promote Red Bull's burgeoning fashion brand.

Aston Martin (formerly Force India and Racing Point)

Drivers

Fernando Alonso (2023-present)

Sebastian Vettel (2021-2022)

Sergio Pérez (2014-2020)

Lance Stroll (2019-present)

Esteban Ocon (2017-2018)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Mercedes

Season Two (2019): Mercedes

Season Three (2020): Mercedes

Season Four (2021): Mercedes

Season Five (2022): Mercedes

Season Six (2023): Mercedes

Aston Martin

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team formerly BWT Racing Point, Racing Point Force India, formerly Sahara Force India

Headquarters: Silverstone, United Kingdom

Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer (2018-2021), Mike Krack (2022-present)

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Green. Formerly pink, which really stood out on the track.
• The Something Force: The team formerly known as Force India, a name which slid away with the team's financial difficulties in 2018.
• The Trope Formerly Known as X: In order to make sure the view isn't confused about which team "Racing Point" is despite them being far less focused on in Season 2 and having a new name it is made clear that they are the former Force India team. Most teams on the grid save Ferrari and Williams have gone through such name changes in the past but only Alfa Romeo/Sauber, Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri and Force India/Racing Point have done so during the recording of the Netflix documentary.

Ferrari

Drivers

Charles Leclerc (2019-2024)

Carlos Sainz Jr. (2021-2024)

Sebastian Vettel (2015-2020)

Kimi Räikkönen (2014-2018)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Ferrari

Season Two (2019): Ferrari

Season Three (2020): Ferrari

Season Four (2021): Ferrari

Season Five (2022): Ferrari

Season Six (2023): Ferrari

Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari

Headquarters: Maranello, Italy

Team Principal Mattia Binotto (2019-2022), Frédéric Vasseur (2023-present)

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Their traditional "Rosso Corsa" is a staple of Italian motorsport, having been in use ever since the early 1900s. While other Italian manufacturers like Maserati, Lamborghini and Abarth have all started using other colors since the Fifties to differentiate themselves, Ferrari has stuck with the iconic shade of red that is now one of their marquee symbols.
• Fan Community Nicknames: As expressed in the documentary the Ferrari team's loyal fanbase is called the Tifosi.
• Long Runner: They are the only team on the grid to have participated in every single Formula One season, starting with the inagural season in 1950.
• Rearing Horse: Their logo, known by many as the "Cavallino Rampante" ("Prancing Pony"), is easily the most famous example of this trope. It was adopted by Enzo Ferrari meeting the parents of a World War I veteran who used to paint his planes with a prancing horse; they suggested adopt the horse as a symbol of good luck, and the rest is history.

Haas

Drivers

Nikita Mazepin (2021)

Mick Schumacher (2021-2022)

Romain Grosjean (2016-2020)

Kevin Magnussen (2017-2020, 2022-present)

Nico Hulkenberg (2023-present)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Ferrari

Season Two (2019): Ferrari

Season Three (2020): Ferrari

Season Four (2021): Ferrari

Season Five (2022): Ferrari

Season Six (2023): Ferrari

Haas

Haas F1 Team

Headquarters: Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States of America

Team Principal Guenther Steiner

Team Owner Gene Haas

The sole American team in F1.

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Black

McLaren

Drivers

Daniel Ricciardo (2021-2022)

Lando Norris (2019-present)

Carlos Sainz, Jr (2017-2020)

Stoffel Vandoorne (2016-2018)

Fernando Alonso (2007, 2015-2018)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Renault

Season Two (2019): Renault

Season Three (2020): Mercedes

Season Four (2021): Mercedes

Season Five (2022): Mercedes

Season Six (2023): Mercedes

McLaren

McLaren F1 Team

Headquarters: Woking, United Kingdom

Team Principal Zak Brown

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Their "Papaya Orange" was the racing color of choice of the team's founder, Bruce McLaren. The color is nowadays synonymous with McLaren's racing endeavors, much like Rosso Corsa is associated with Ferrari.

Mercedes

Drivers

George Russell (2022-present)

Lewis Hamilton (2013-present)

Valtteri Bottas (2017-2021)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Mercedes

Season Two (2019): Mercedes

Season Three (2020): Mercedes

Season Four (2021): Mercedes

Season Five (2022): Mercedes

Season Six (2023): Mercedes

Mercedes

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

Headquarters: Brackley, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

Team Principal: Toto Wolff

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Silver and neon teal. The former is Germany's historic racing color, owing to their entries in the 1930s having raced predominantly in cars without any body paint. The latter color is instead the main color of their lead sponsor Petronas.
• Colorful Theme Naming: Their team is nicknamed the Silver Arrows.
• Germanic Efficiency: Played with. Even though they are the strongest team on the grid by a wide margin and are the factory team of one of Germany's biggest car brands, their HQ is in the United Kingdom.
• Invincible Hero: They are the most dominant force in the hybrid era, having won every drivers and constructors title since 2014.
• The Trope Formerly Known as X: Before being bought out and rebranded by the German car manufacturer they went with many other names. The team itself traces its origins from Tyrrell, a consistent challenger in the 70s which was then bought out in the late 90s by Honda Racing, and later on BAR-Honda (British-American Racing) and finally Brawn GP.

Red Bull

Drivers

Daniel Ricciardo (2014-2018, 2023-present^note as a reserve driver before being called by AlphaTauri post-2023 British Grand Prix)

Max Verstappen (2016-2028)

Pierre Gasly (2019)

Alexander Albon (2019-2020)

Sergio Perez (2021-2024)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Tag Heuer

Season Two (2019): Honda

Season Three (2020): Honda

Season Four (2021): Honda

Season Five (2022): Red Bull Powertrains (Power units still developed by Honda)

Season Six (2023): Honda-Red Bull Powertrains

Red Bull

Oracle Red Bull Racing

Headquarters: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

Team Principal Christian Horner

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Navy
• The Trope Formerly Known as X: The team was founded in 1996 as Stewart Grand Prix by former world champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul before becoming Jaguar Racing in late 1999 after being bought by the British car manufacturer. Red Bull then bought the team from Jaguar in 2004 and rebranded it as Red Bull Racing.

Williams (formerly RoKIT Williams & Martini Williams)

Race Drivers

Alex Albon (2022-present)

Nicholas Latifi (2020-2022)

George Russell (2019-2021)

Robert Kubica (2019)

Sergey Sirotkin (2018)

Lance Stroll (2017-2018)

Reserve & Test Drivers

Robert Kubica (2018)

Nicholas Latifi (2019)

Jack Aitken (2020-2022)

Engine:

Season One (2018): Mercedes

Season Two (2019): Mercedes

Season Three (2020): Mercedes

Season Four (2021): Mercedes

Season Five (2022): Mercedes

Season Six (2023): Mercedes

Williams

Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited

Headquarters: Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Founders Frank Williams & Patrick Head

Team Principals Frank Williams (1977-2020), Jost Capito (2021-2022), James Vowles (2023-present)

Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams (2012-2020)

A former top player that fell to backmarker status in 2018 and is struggling with financial deficits. The team was the last holdout of "small" founder family owned and operated teams.

---

• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Blue, though their cars are primarily white these days.
• New Tech Is Not Cheap: The Williams team just doesn't have the money to develop their cars that larger teams like Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari do, which has caused them issues and put them in a position where they are struggling to get even a single point a season.
• The Smurfette Principle: While there are other women working in Formula 1, they are uncommon and never put in the spotlight. Claire is the only female team principal (technically deputy principal), something brought up several times in Season 1. She's also the only woman in Formula 1 to be interviewed for or named in the show. That said, Claire is not the first female team principal, as that title goes to Monisha Kaltenborn who was the team principal of Sauber (now Alfa Romeo) from 2012 until the team's sale to Longbow Finance in 2017.