Who are F1 Team Principals? What is their Job? How much do they earn?- Explained

One thing Formula 1 fans will always hear when they see races in live streams. ‘Team boss’, ‘The principal’, ‘Team head'—all' these words describe one person, and that is the Formula 1 team rincipal. He is the person who takes responsibility for everything in an F1 team.

Who is a team principal?

The Formula 1 team will have a head who decides everything about cars, drivers, strategy, and new signings. Back in the day, team principals used to be team owners like Colin Chapman (Lotus), Bruce McLaren (McLaren), and Frank Williams (Williams Racing). But nowadays owners don't want to get their hands dirty, so they brought experts especially made for this kind of hard game. 

These team principals have great skills to handle high-pressure situations. Those are the key skills one needs to have to be the head of a Formula 1 team, as the pinnacle of Motorsport is always a heated environment. They also have great communication and diplomatic skills, which are highly required. They should also be brave to make tough decisions and fight for the team under any circumstances.

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What is the role of the F1 team principal?

Everything! An F1 team head or team principal should do every job from undertaking drivers, signing people, overseeing the car development, managing the sponsors, making big decisions inside and outside the track, and many more. Simply put, he is called ‘The Boss’. 

They are the face of the team, and they meet the press for interviews and media duties. They are the frontmen of an F1 team and take responsibility for everything the team does. Some well-known team bosses are Toto Wolff, Christian Horner, Zak Brown, and Fred Vasseur.

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How much do they earn?

They earn from $5 million to $10 million per year. Apart from handling an F1 team, they are also big investors who make investments in many fields. Some team principals also have some shares in the team. For example, Mercedes Team principal Toto Wolff is also an investor and shareholder in the team, and he is one of the biggest reasons for signing Lewis Hamilton and also their success in Formula 1.

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