Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff celebrates his 53rd birthday today. The Austrian, following Ferrari’s Frédéric Vasseur (56) and McLaren’s Andrea Stella (53), is the oldest team boss on the current grid. But where does he stand in the ranking of the most successful team bosses in Formula 1 history? Coincidentally, Wolff also holds the third position there.
Wolff took over as team boss of the German Mercedes in 2013, and has since enjoyed much success with the team. The collaboration with Lewis Hamilton, who also joined Mercedes in 2013, has been particularly fruitful. With Hamilton at the wheel, Wolff won the driver’s title six times and the constructor’s title eight times. In 2016, it was Nico Rosberg who clinched the driver’s title for Mercedes, bringing the total number of world titles won by Mercedes under Wolff to fifteen.
Is that enough for the Austrian to be the most successful team boss, in terms of world titles won, in history? No, Wolff still has to concede to these two other team bosses:
Ron Dennis, McLaren Team Principal, Seventeen World Titles
Between 1981 and 2008, and again from 2014 to 2016, Dennis served as the team principal of McLaren. Under his leadership, the team clinched the constructors’ title seven times and the drivers’ title an impressive ten times. Niki Lauda kicked off the winning streak in 1984, followed by Alain Prost who secured the world title for the British team in 1985 and 1986. Prost repeated this feat in 1989, but had to yield the title to Ayrton Senna in 1988, 1990, and 1991. Mika Häkkinen (1998 and 1999) and Lewis Hamilton (2008) were the last McLaren drivers under Dennis to win the drivers’ championship.
Frank Williams, Williams Team Principal, Sixteen World Titles
Frank Williams also ranks just above Wolff on the list, with a difference of one world title. Under the British leader’s guidance, Williams secured nine constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles. Australian Alan Jones was the first driver to win the championship under Williams in 1980, followed by Keke Rosberg in 1982. Brazilian Nelson Piquet repeated the feat five years later, before Nigel Mansell (1992) and Alain Prost (1993) claimed the drivers’ title. Damon Hill (1996) and Jacques Villeneuve (1997) complete the list.
