Mercedes

Welcome back to my one-off blog documenting the past history of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid today!

This later than normal post involves one of the oldest team names in the history of Formula 1. The Silver Arrows have been competing since the 30s, enjoying a very successful first few years. After that they withdrew from the sport, only to supply engines to teams. But the current team has had a very dynamic background.

DAIMIER-BENZ 

First Entered: 1954
Drivers Championships: 2

Mercedes entered under the name Daimier-Benz for the 1954 and 1955 seasons, and endured unparalled success winning both of the drivers championships with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio. However after a Mercedes disaster in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 (which resulted in 80 spectator deaths) forced the remainder of the Formula 1 season to be cancelled, and Mercedes felt the need to pull out of the sport entirely.

Tyrrell

First Entered: 1970
Pole Positions: 19
Race Wins: 23
Points: 617
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 3





In absolutely no relation to the team already mentioned, Tyrrell was a team set up by Ken Tyrrell and endured many great successes in the early years. But like the trends back then, this soon faded away. The team can boast a great number of drivers who entered the cockpit such as Jean Alesi, Jody Scheckter and Francois Covert. The greatest success was Scotland's favourite racing legend and three time World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart (although he only won one here). 

The team does have a certain accolade that many say will be forever untouched. They are the only team ever to have won a Grand Prix with a six wheeler car! An innovative design that was soon abandoned.

SIX WHEELS?!?!?!

BAR 


First Entered: 1999
Pole Positions: 2
Race Wins: 0
Points: 227
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0




British American Racing (BAR) took over as main sponsor for the Tyrrell team from 1999 onwards exclusively becoming BAR. The team had big ambitions and landed World Champion Jacques Villeneuve to drive for them. This marked the first time a car had emerged from the Brackley facilities. Their ambitions often became annoying, stating they were already an excellent team and that they could win a race in their first ever season.  Between three drivers, they only managed to finish 11 races, with a rookie driver completing a finish before Villeneuve. The 2000 season was a big improvement but their real successes did not start occurring until Jenson Button joined in 2003. His following season saw a peak performance which seen the Brackley team grasp 2nd in the Constructors Championship.

HONDA


First Entered: 2006
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 106
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0







In their debut season, Honda acquired Rubens Barrichello to race alongside Button, a line-up which continued right the way through to the next incarnation. Button achieved his first ever win in 2006 which remained the teams only win. In 2008, the team gave up on their current season to focus on the brand new rule changes for 2009. However, Honda pulled the plug and withdrew from motor racing. The team had no idea what to do, or where the future lies. Fortunately, team principle Ross Brawn reacted quickly.

BRAWN GP


First Entered: 2009
Pole Positions: 5
Race Wins: 8
Points: 172
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 1



The BGP 001 has to be the most beautiful car ever created in F1. Untill 2012, the 2009 season was my favourite ever purely because of the excitement of this team. From the ashes of Honda, Ross Brawn managed the impossible and the team still holds the 100% record for winning both world championships. It was the best season because of the euphoric highs at the beginning, the devastating lows when they got brought back to earth and of course the amazing in team rivalry between Button and Barrichello. I was quite annoyed when Mercedes bought them over because I absolutely loved the team and car, and to be perfectly honest I don't feel the same love for Mercedes AMG.

Mercedes

First Entered: 2010
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 521
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 3


The greatest thing about the new look Mercedes was the re-introduction of God himself, Michael Schumacher. Yes, he didn't have the greatest of comebacks, so what? He had nothing to prove to anyone. He came back because he loves the sport. He doesn't care what anyone thinks. He got bored and came back. What a champion.

The current reshuffle of the Mercedes staff is a real pickle but on track they appear to have things sorted after hiring Lewis Hamilton from McLaren. The question is how and when are they going to impact? And where does Ross Brawn go? I would not like to be a Mercedes fan at the minute, you guys have a mountain to climb. Good luck.

Sauber

Welcome back to my one-off blog documenting the past history of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid today!

This weeks instalment includes one of my favourite teams, and probably everybody's favourite underdog! Sauber have always had their name in every title they've ever ran under, the only difference came from engine manufacturers. 

SAUBER

First Entered: 1993
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 195
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0






After his successes in Hillclimbing and other Motorsport activities, Swiss Peter Sauber introduced his own F1 team to the sport in 1993. The team never gathered much success and was better known as a team who employed younger talent in order to grow and nurture them. Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella were among the older drivers but Sauber did hire future drivers like Nick Heidfeld and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Their greatest contribution was far and wide, giving Kimi Raikkonen his F1 debut. He was so impressive that he pipped the more experience Heidfeld to the vacant seat at McLaren, a move that angered Heidfeld. Sorry Nick, but you would never have reached the heights that the Iceman soared.

Sauber also had a brief involvement with Red Bull as a sponsor for a number of years.

BMW SAUBER


First Entered: 2006
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 308
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0








The team entered into an engine deal with BMW and raced as BMW Sauber in 2006, a move that proved to be quite successful in contrast to their previous set up. Heidfeld continued driving with them right the way through with 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve driving for 3/4 of the 2006 season before being replaced by the extremely talented Robert Kubica (get better soon Rab). Sebastian Vettel had a race start after Kubica's horrible accident in Canada in 2007.

For a team with little pace before, BMW Sauber had a 2nd and 3rd place finish in two championship years with Kubica winning the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, a year after the accident (it also happened to be a 1-2 for the team).

In 2009, BMW withdrew their involvement in the sport, ending any possible progression. Peter Sauber repurchased the team, filling in the spot left vacated by Toyota following their withdrawal. The team could have reached amazing heights, but they didn't exactly have a massive decline in form.

SAUBER

Re-Entered: 2010
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 214
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0




Sauber came back and started using Ferrari engines a move which did not bring back their great BMW pace, but they hired veteran Pedro de la Rosa and rookie Kamui Kobayashi in order to make a new beginning. The team conceded 14 DNF's and dropped de la Rosa for former driver Nick Heidfeld who had another DNF on his first race back. Under the new point system the did manage to make a pretty decent haul in points but real strides in performace were not seen until last year when Sergio Perez scored the first podium for Sauber since 2003, a feat he achieved three times. The team totalled four podiums last season with Krazy Kob bagging a third place in Japan.

For 2013, Sauber took Nico Hulkenberg from Force India and GP2 runner Esteban Gutierrez on board to try and build on the current successes. Sauber have also made F1 history by being the first team to have a female boss in the form of Monisha Kaltenborn. 

Sauber C32

Sauber tend to follow up a successful season with a few poor ones. For the sake of Hulkenberg (who is an extremely talented driver) this is proven wrong. Hopefully the team who sacrificed Kobayashi for better funding know the risk they took, and that expectations are extremely high.

Force India

Welcome back to my spin off blog detailing the pasts of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid today!

The one-off blog is well under way now, today we're looking at the Sahara Force India team. Owned my Dr. Vijay Mallya since 2008, Force India have made great progress. I have given the start of their 2013 a real hard time as they have yet to announce a full driver line up. Their only driver so far is Britain's Paul di Resta who joined the team in 2011 following his successes in the DTM. I covered the Force India story briefly on my main blog but here is a closer look at some of the previous teams we knew before Force India.

JORDAN



First Entered: 1991
Pole Positions: 2
Race Wins: 4
Points: 259
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0









They were known as the rockstars of Formula 1, fronted by probably the most eccentric man in the history of the sport. Irishman Eddie Jordan. Sporting a colourful yellow livery, the team were liked throughout the entire paddock. Jordan can also boast a tremendous alumni, including; Rubens Barichello, fellow Ulsterman Eddie Irvine, Damon Hill, Jean Alesi, Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella. The team can also be responsible for introducing some of the greatest technical minds. Fellow BBC annalist Gary Anderson (also from Northern Ireland), Mike Gascoyne, and Rob Smedly are among the few. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Jordan's career was giving Formula 1 deity, Michael Schumacher his very first drive. I think Jordan have done more for this sport than some of the teams we know and love.

 MIDLAND


 

First Entered: 2006
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0





After Jordan sold the team over to Canadian business man Alex Shnaider, although it was adminstarated as the first Russian team to reflect Shniader's background. The team was highly unsuccessful competing only one season before being sold on again to Dutch manufacturers Spyker.

SPYKER





First Entered: 2007
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 1
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0






Like it's predecessors, the team failed to live up to much and ran through four drivers in their short campaign. Adrian Sutil was the only driver to survive. So thanks for that guys. A real BIG thanks (To those who aren't British, this is known as sarcasm). But the misery for the history of this particular Formula 1 past was about to end as Force India's presence became known.

FORCE INDIA




First Entered: 2008
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 0
Points: 259
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0









Starting out in a Ferrari engine, Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella started off in the 2008, failing to score any points, although in 2009 Fisichella made the jump from Force India to Ferrari following Felipe Massa's accident which took him out for the rest of the season. This would however be the last time he raced in Formula 1. That same season saw them score their first points and marked a considerable improvement in form. In 2011 they welcomed British driver Paul di Resta to the team following his championship win in the DTM. 

In 2013, the team has so far yet to announce a second driver, a move which I personally think is absolutely disgraceful. I do however hope it is another rookie, this way di Resta will get full backing from the team and then hopefully a move up in the Formula 1 world. The boy can race and all he wants to do is win races.




The team has certainly involved from race winning Jordan through to point scoring Force India. The middle parts of this tale will surely be forgotten in time, but the history of this team predicts a strong future.

Toro Rosso

Welcome back to my spin off blog detailing the pasts of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid today!

We've already covered the teams who have never changed names and the minnows, so we're well under way now!

Today I'm going to cover the Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso. Set up by Dietrich Mateschitz (owner of  the Red Bull energy drink company) in order to provide parent team Red Bull with new talent for the future. They only have a short history, including just the one name change after Mateschitz bought the last stocks to this previous guise.

MINARDI




First Entered: 1985
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 38
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0






Founded by Giancarlo Minardi and first raced in 1985, the team never really gathered any momentum in order to impress or impact. in 1996 Minardi entered into joint ownership with F1 bad boy Flavio Briatore. The team does however have quite a good roll call of drivers including; Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber and double world champion Fernando Alonso. Despite never being at the forefront of the grid, they gained a very loyal following and if they were able to produce a talent such as Fernando Alonso, it gives me great hope that the smaller teams today will provide an Alonsoesque driver. Another great quality about this team is that they loved giving the fans a new livery every once in a while! here are a few examples!:

After eventual owner Paul Stoddart sold Minardi to Red Bull, they wanted to keep the teams Italian heritage. So in a clever market ploy they named the team Toro Rosso which of course in translation means, Red Bull.

TORO ROSSO


First Entered: 2006
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 136
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0






I have wrote a peice oringinaly about how Toro Rosso treat their younger drivers and through that I included a small history about the team from some of the drivers who have raced for them, to how Sebastian Vettel got their first pole position, podium and race win at Monza 2008. The article can be read here and I thoroughly recommend you take a read at it to see my view on how young stars are often mistreated at the outfit.

For the unaware out there, you may have noticed a change in my Blogger profile. That's because I am now a writer for a great informative and opinionated Formula 1 website called Let's Talk F1. I would absolutely implore you to check this out if you have not yet done so, there's a great dedicated team in place always looking to report the latest stories and events in our wonderful world. Please go and explore the site, favourite it and also follow us on Twitter @LetsTalkF1.


I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of my main blog where I post my opinions on the latest goings on in Formula 1 where I've covered issues such as the Toto Wolff saga and the unveiling of the Lotus E21. Contact details for both are below this text!

The Minnows

Welcome to my spin off blog detailing the pasts of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid!

Last week I detailed three of the most important teams in Formula 1, the three who have never changed their names. This is maybe why we've all come to love them so much. It's hard to imagine a world with Williams and McLaren in it. To think about one without Ferrari is just impossible. Here is the Introduction to this special blog.

This week again instead of taking on just the one team, I've included a double feature for you to enjoy. So here are your two Minnow teams and their previous outfits.

TEAM LOTUS

First Entered: 2010
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points : 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0






One of three new teams in 2010, Lotus were re-established from the infamous Lotus brand of the 70s and 80s. Though a shadow of their former selves, it was great to hear the name again. They hired the ever impressive Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli to drive a partnership that lasted through both the 2010 and 2011 season, although they gave a drive at the British Grand Prix to Karun Chandhok. Owned by Tony Fernandes and ran by Mike Gascoyne, the team did little to impressive as the stats show. .

CATERHAM

Since: 2012
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0







Due to a whatever debate (I honestly lost interest in the whole fight) they were forced to give up the name Lotus and became Caterham. Management remained the same, only change was Trulli out, Vitaly Petrov in. For 2013 they are one of three teams (Marussia and Force India) still not to complete a their line up, only naming Charles Pic thus far.

The next team name will take most of you by shock as the team never actually raced under this name. The team you came to know as Virgin were named Manor GP. However due to a number of shares swapping about, the team changed to Virgin Racing before a race had been started.

VIRGIN RACING

First Entered: 2010
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0







Funded by the "richy" Richard Branson, the team began as one of the other new teams in 2010. The line-up consisted of Timo Glock, and Lucas di Grassi. For 2011 they became Marussia Virgin Racing replacing di Grassi for Jerome d'Ambrosio. Like the other newbies they failed to make even a little impact on the grid.

MARUSSIA

Since: 2012
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0







With a name change and the introduction of GP2 graduate Charles Pic, Marussia nearly pipped Caterham to the prize giving 10th place in the constructors championship. It was not meant to be, although with the use of McLaren's wind tunnel and KERS for the first time they did look to be on track for 2013. Although with Pic joining Caterham and Glock's future looking to be over, it's hard to see where they can go now.

Introduction - The Obvious Exceptions

Welcome to my spin off blog detailing the pasts of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid!

If this is your first time to any of my blogs, I am the owner and author of the Formula 1 blog which started out as a hobby and turned out to be my passion as it became a big success. This idea came to me recently one night as I discovered that a lot of Formula 1 fans both old and new are completely unaware of their teams history beyond their current name! There's also a bit of a dry spell in Formula 1 at the minute with it being pre season, new stories are hard to come by, so take this as a gap filler until the new season gets under way!

Each week I'll be examining a different team and posting them here on this blog as to keep it separate from the news on my Formula 1 blog. I'll be noting famous drivers and team owners.  I'll be taking note of the amount of Pole Positions, Race Wins, Constructors Championships & Drivers Championships. Each outfit will be totalled up in the four categories to see who is technically the most successful team in the history of Formula 1. Just remember his is for fun and is not an interpretation into what team is the best, so sit back and enjoy!

There are currently 11 teams on the grid for 2013. Now I'm sure you've already figured out, not every team has had a former identity. This post will contain the four teams who have remained the same ever since their entry into Formula 1. Next weeks blog will kick off the first real posts, starting with Marussia. So without further hesitation, please enjoy the exceptions to this special blog:

WILLIAMS

First Entered: 1978

Pole Positions: 127

Race Wins: 114
Points: 2760

Constructors Championships: 9

Drivers Championships: 7

Williams have had some amazing drivers attached to their history; Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Alain Prost, Jacques Villeneuve, Nelson Piquet and Jenson Button. Formula 1's greatest driver Ayrton Senna had a stint with the team, and unfortunately this was his last team as he died in a Williams car. This has also been the last fatality to date and long may this continue. As a tribute, every Williams car has the name Senna on its livery somewhere. Team principal is the legendary Sir Frank Williams, although in getting on with age, he is likely to be succeeded by business partner Toto Wolff.

McLAREN

First Entered: 1966

Pole Positions: 155

Race Wins: 182
Points: 4710.5

Constructors Championships: 8

Drivers Championships: 12

Past drivers include Jacky Ickx, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve, Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The team was at its highest whenever they had the greatest and the second greatest driver as team mates. Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost provided the most intense rivalry that the sport has ever seen, and perhaps the world. Jenson Button currently drives for them. Martin Whitmarsh is the current team principle, McLarens most famous team principle has to be the legendary Ron Dennis.

FERRARI

First Entered: 1950 (every season since)

Pole Positions: 207

Race Wins: 227
Points: 6166. 27

Constructors Championships: 16

Drivers Championships: 15

The oldest and most prestigious outfit in the history of Formula 1. Current driver Fernando Alonso has constantly stated that to drive for Ferrari is the ultimate goal. It's hard to argue when drivers such as; Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda & Kimi Raikkonen have all won championships with the team. The most famous driver to drive for the team? He is no doubt the God of Formula 1, 7 times World Champion Michael Schumacher won 5 of his championships consecutively racing for this team. Stefano Domenicali currently heads the greatest Formula 1 team, a post once held by Jean Todt. Ross Brawn also designed cars for them during the Schumi era.

I hope you enjoyed my first entry in the history of Formula 1 teams. Next weeks blog I will focus on the minnow team, Marussia. Thanks for reading.

To keep up to date with my views on the current news in Formula 1, click here.