In the paddle of Formula, in addition to the drivers it is common to see different characters in each race, who seem to act only as supporting actors, but who throughout the season play key roles, either in their teams, in the planning of every event or even because of its proximity to the drivers.
Looking ahead to a new year of the highest category we present these protagonists who appear on the circuits, but are not as recognized as those behind the wheel, although their role is almost as important.
Toto Wolff
He is the director and CEO of Mercedes and one of the biggest culprits in the success of the German team in the hybrid era, with seven constructors’ championships in a row since 2014 and the same number of drivers (six for Lewis Hamilton). As a driver, the Austrian had a discreet career before becoming a shareholder and manager of Williams, then made the leap to the Lone Star to be the architect of the triumphs. In addition, it owns shares of Aston Martin and Williams and has been representative of Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon.
Stefano Domenicali
The new Formula CEO replaces Chase Carey on the spot, but he is a familiar face to the serial’s paddock. With a career linked to Ferrari, he held various positions until he became head coach in 2008, when the Scuderia won its last constructors’ championship; after his resignation in April 2014, he worked at Lamborghini, but will now be the boss of the category.
Dietrich Mateschitz
He is one of the founders and owner of the Red Bull energy drink company. The brand has always been linked to sport and in a very special way with motorsport, first as the owner of Sauber and then Jaguar, which became Red Bull, and Minardi, which became Toro Rosso (see AlphaTauri). In addition to titles, he always seeks to promote new talent on the grid such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz.
Guenther Steiner
The Haas director gained notoriety with the Formula 1: Drive to Survive series for his constant pressure on drivers; however, it is the mind behind the formation of the American team of the highest category. He began his career in rallies, then joined Jaguar and when he was acquired by Red Bull he remained, before being sent to develop the company’s project in the United States, where he met Gene Haas. , with whom in 2014 the squad started from scratch and this season begins a new stage with a change in the steering wheel.
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Ferrari unveiled the square monkey that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will drive in the 2021 Formula 1 season.
Mattia Binotto
The Ferrari director is usually the center of criticism from fans for the decisions that are made or the scarcity of good results in recent times. Trained as an engineer, the Italian has been in the Scuderia since 1995 and was in charge of engines and the technical part, before being appointed as successor to Maurizio Arrivabene in the main position in 2019. His place always seems to be at risk.
Helmut Marko
Although he is officially the advisor to the Red Bull F1 teams, his position as head of the driver development program has made him the ideologue of the brand and his power, both in the main team and in AlphaTauri, it is at the highest level. He has no filters when it comes to referring to the four flyers of the organization and has been important in cutting trajectories like those of Daniil Kvyat or Alex Albon.
Adrian Newey
The Red Bull technical director is seen as one of the masterminds of the highest category. In the nineties he was part of five Williams constructors’ titles and after the 1998 one with McLaren, for 2006 he joined the Austrian team and was a key piece in the 2010 to 2013 championships. ; although trophies are now won by Mercedes, the chassis designed by Newey remain the most recognized.
Passeig Lawrence
He is the owner of Aston Martin F1. A fashion billionaire who became involved in the series when his son Lance became a Williams pilot in 2017. Faced with the failure of Force India in 2018, Lawrence led a group of investors who went buy, renamed her Racing Point and then hired her son for one of the performances. For this campaign, the team will change its name again and will have Sebastian Vettel in the other car, instead of Sergio Perez.
James Allison
Mercedes ’recent successes also have a designer and this is the technical director. After going through the aerodynamic area at Benetton and Ferrari, the Briton had more responsibilities at Renault and Lotus and returned to the Scuderia. After the death of his wife he resigned, but in 2017 he was hired by the silver arrows as a replacement for Paddy Lowe to be a key part of the victories.
Christian Horner
He has been the director of Red Bull since 2005 and who brought it to the forefront between 2010 and 2013, with four constructors ’and drivers’ championships, before the advent of the new rules and Mercedes. In recent years he has returned to the Austrians in the fight for victories and solved several crises, such as running out of Renault engines, the departure of Honda from Formula for 2022 and the search for a suitable partner for Verstappen. The Briton is married to Geri Halliwell, a former member of the Spice Girls.
Angela Cullen
Lewis Hamilton’s eternal companion is New Zealand physiotherapist Angela Cullen, who has been in charge of the British man’s physical work since 2016, although on a common weekend he expands his work to be the closest person to the set. times champion. She represented her country in the field hockey team and then became coach of athletics groups, before being the right hand man of English.
Otmar Szafnauer
He is the director and CEO of Aston Martin F1. The Romanian is the soul of the organization, since he arrived in 2009 when he was Force India, with successes at the sporting level, but also as the visible face when financial complications hit the garage in 2018, for later becoming Lawrence Stroll’s right hand man in the transition from Racing Point to transforming this season into Aston Martin.
Michael Masi
The F1 race director had the not-so-simple mission of being the successor to the late Charlie Whiting. He came as the future replacement for the legendary manager, but his sudden death put him at the forefront from the start of the 2019 season; is in charge of ensuring the safety of the protagonists and had a great test with the accident of the Frenchman Romain Grosjean in Bahrain the previous year.
Ross Brawn
The general manager of Formula also has a long history of success in the series. He was the perfect partner for Michael Schumacher’s seven titles, first at Benetton and then at Ferrari, then bought the Honda team and the renowned Brawn GP, which in its only season (2009) won two championships. He retired in 2014 after working at Mercedes, but returned to the category’s top spot in 2017.
Frédéric Vasseur
He is the director of Alfa Romeo, with a long career in motorsport. As part of ART in the series GP2 lived the championships of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, then joined as head of Renault headquarters returned to F1 in 2016, before starring in an internal battle that led to the your exit from the garage. It arrived at Sauber in 2017 and remained in the transition to being Alfa Romeo.
Franz Tost
He is the director of AlphaTauri, the second in the Red Bull organization’s hierarchy. Of discreet profile, it arrived at Formula of the hand of Ralf Schumacher, first in Jordan and later in Williams. He was appointed responsible for the newly created team Toro Rosso in 2006 and holds this position, from which he has seen the beginning of the careers of drivers like Vettel and Verstappen.
Toyoharu Tanabe
He is the technical director of Honda F1, which supplies engines to Red Bull brand equipment. However, he has a long career on the circuits, having worked as an engineer for Austrian driver Gerhard Berger at McLaren in the 1990s. Although it has gone up to collect trophies of triumphs with Max Verstappen, the Japanese brand faces its final year in the top category.
Zak Brown
The CEO of McLaren Racing has been a key part in returning competitiveness to Woking. With a long career behind the wheel and in the commercial section of motoring, he signed with the brand in 2016 as in charge of the technology group and in 2018 he moved to the racing part; last year the team took third place in the championship above Ferrari or Renault.
Simon Roberts
The Williams director will live his first full campaign as head of the team. He worked at Force India and McLaren before being appointed manager at Grove in June 2020; however, just three months later he replaced Claire Williams as team manager, in a tricky transition after the corner sale.
Laurent Rossi
In another example of immediate replacements, Rossi became Alpine’s CEO less than two months ago, following the startling resignation of Cyril Abiteboul. Although he was already at Renault since 2018 as head of strategy and business development, his greatest professional success was at Google, where he worked for six years in boosting business relationships with customers in the automotive industry. .
These are some of the characters that appear in each race, they also give interviews and celebrate or suffer at the paddock, despite not getting on the act and carrying it to the checkered flag. They are the ones working behind the curtain so that the riders can get the most out of each Grand Prix and will be present in this new season.