What Would F1 Statistics Look Like If Teams Didn’t Change Names?

​I have attended at least one day at the Australian GP ever since 2007.  One highlight early, although not so much now was getting and reading the Race Program.  Now, they lack information and colourful infographics with teams history and a full detailed entrant list.  As a young F1 fan, something I never understood was that when a team changed names, their statistics would be put back to 0.  Also, history would barely mention previous teams names from the same factory, but would mention Renault being around in the 80’s, whilst having no mention of Benetton or Toleman, even though they were teams from the same base.  Another example is the team from Faenza Italy.  The outfit originally called Minardi has two home gp wins, yet neither under Minardi statistics.  One under Toro Rosso and the with Alpha Tauri.  I have found some websites that will combine the two teams’ stats, but it’s not always the case.  Also, when Hamilton left for Mercedes for the start of 2013, no one thought he would ever win, even though they had dominated the championship in 2009 with barely any resources.  Yet, it was a different team name, so everyone had seemed to have forgotten about Brawn GP.  And don’t get me started on the Force India and Racing Point fiasco either!

So, to get it off my chest, I decided to compile all the stats from each team on the grid, including all their name changes.  For simplicity, we’ll start off with the four teams who have never had a name change.  Please note these statistics are as of the 2022 French GP

First up, we have Ferrari and McLaren, the two most successful teams in F1 History and long-lasting teams in the sport.  Ferrari have won 16 Team championships, the last time being in 2008, and 15 driver's titles, the last being in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen.  They have competed in over 1000 races, and has been one of the most dominant teams in parts of history, including six straight team championships in-between 1999 and 2004.  Ferrari is more than a team, it expands into the spiritual significance of Formula1.  I don't think anyone can imagine F1 without the Scuderia. 
​McLaren was began by the New Zealand driver Bruce McLaren, who early in his F1 career drove for Cooper.  He would compete under his own team from 1966, and the team has been around the paddock ever since.

Another mammoth team is Williams.  After two unsuccessful attempts at starting a team, Frank Williams moved to Didcot and was joined by Patrick Head to create Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977.  Although they were the butt of the joke in the paddock, that all changed when they won the championship in 1980.  Williams would have plenty more success in the 1990's, being at the front of car design for a large portion of the decade. However, since then, they have become a midfield back marker team, scrapping for points. Their last win was the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, which came as such a surprise, that the Williams garage caught fire afterwards.
Haas is the newest team to join the F1 grid (and has no relation to Haas-Lola of the mid-eighties). Started by NASCAR team owner Gene Haas, and led by Guenther Steiner, the team has had a tumultuous history in F1 so far.  Straight out of the gate however, they had quite a quick midfield car. However would be marred by inconsistency and bad luck over time, seeing them become a backpacker team.  What certainly didn't help was when Rich Energy pulled their sponsorship, a sponsor that was and still is littered with red flags.  In 2021, Haas was struggling very much financially, and had the slowest car on the grid by some margin.  At the start of 2022, Haas terminated its sponsorship from Russian company Uralkali and dropped Russian driver Nikita Mazepin due to the war in Ukraine. This year, Haas have returned to the points on multiple occasions. Nothing can seem to stop this team.

​​Mercedes have been the most dominant team in recent history, scoring 8 team championships and 7 drivers titles in a row.  However, they began as Tyrrell in 1970.  Jackie Stewart would win two of his championship in 1971 and 1973.  Eventually, the team was bought and renamed British American Racing for the 1999 season.  A lot of money was thrown around and a lot of hype was created by the team.  They even predicted to win from pole on the first race of the season.  However, they had a woeful first season, with a terribly unreliable car. In coming years, the team would get better, eventually scoring 15 podiums.  In 2006, Honda took over, and despite getting one win, by 2008 unreliability and inconsistency had struck the team again, and Honda pulled out.  Ross Brawn bought the team, worked his magic with the new technical regulations of 2009, stuck a Mercedes engine in the back and ended up winning both championships in strong fashion.  Mercedes took over the team in 2010, and the rest is history.

​In 1997, Jackie and Paul Stewart entered Stewart Grand Prix onto the Formula 1 grid.  Although their first two years they struggled with reliability, it would be in 1999 where they would grab multiple podiums and even a win at the European GP.  For the 2000 season, Ford bought the company and renamed it Jaguar.  Throughout 2000-2004, they only scored two podiums, then was bought by energy drinks giant Red Bull.  Overtime, Red Bull slowly improved until 2009 when they had their breakout season thanks to Adrian Newey's brilliant car designs.  They would finish second in the teams championship, then would have a run of 4 straight team and driver championships with Sebastian Vettel.  From then on, they would be known as one of the big three teams, and last year won their fifth drivers championship with Max Verstappen, and are looking to repeat their success again this year.  

​​The team we now know as Aston Martin love a name change.  The team began as Jordan in 1991, and would score a handful of points in their first season. Despite a few seasons of reliability woes, they would score their first podium in 1994.  Jordan's best season came in 1999, scoring multiple wins and finishing third in the teams championship.  Despite a few more podiums in the coming years, by 2006 the team would be bought by Midland.  And they scored... nothing.  For 2007, the team was ran by Spyker, and despite having an awesome livery, they only scored a single point.  The following year the team would change hands and names again, this time to Force India.  Giancarlo Fiscichella would score their first pole at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, and the team would  slowly rise from back marker to a strong midfield team.  In 2018, the team was in serious debt.  Lawrence Stroll came to the rescue and bought the team, however because he wanted a name change, the team was stripped of all its points it had scored so far that year.  Bizarre right?  In 2019, the team would fully change to Racing Point, and would score their first win in 2020.  In 2021, the team's name changed to Aston Martin.  They have scored one podium so far, but have mainly struggled with recent car design changes.

Toleman began in 1981, and despite struggling to qualify for races and having reliability issues, Ayrton Senna would score all three podiums for the team.  The team would be taken over by Benetton and would have much more success.  Michael Schumacher would win two driver's championships in 1994 and 1995, whilst the team won the constructor's championship in 1995.  When the team changed to Renault in 2002, they would have more success, winning both teams and drivers championship in 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso.  In 2011, the team would change to Lotus.  They would score quite a few podiums but only two wins. The team would change back to Renault in 2016, and would be a decent midfield team.  The most recent name change was to Alpine, so Renault could promote its sports cars and other motorsport endeavors.  They have so far scored two podiums and an impressive win at last years Hungarian Grand Prix​.

Ah yes, the passionate team from Faenza, Italy.  Everyone's favourite back marker underdog.  First competed in 1985, the teams history is littered with reliability trouble and zero points finishes.  In the 20 years under the Minardi name, they only scored 38 points, most famously on Mark Webber's debut at the 2002 Australian GP.  For 2006, Red Bull bought the team, renaming it Toro Rosso and would be used for juniour development drivers.  The sister team would famously win before the main Red Bull team, on a wet weekend at its home race.  They would score a few more podiums in the coming years. In 2020, the team changed its name to Alpha Tauri to promote Red Bull's fashion brand.  They would win again at the Italian GP that year.

Finally, we have Sauber, a team that has only had one name change (thank goodness!)  Conceived in 1993, Sauber has always be a low scoring points team, however would score 10 podiums until BMW joined in 2007.  During 2007, they would score more podiums and in 2008 would grab their only win to date.  Robert Kubica would also lead the championship for a time.  Unfortunately, they haven't had much success since that year, and Alfa Romeo would fully partner up the team, changing the name in 2019.