Who’s in Charge Here? The 11 F1 Team Principals for 2026

McLaren - Andrea Stella

Andrea Stella is entering his 11th year with McLaren overall, and fourth year as team principal in 2026. First joining in 2015 as head of operations, he climbed the ranks and eventually took on the leadership of the team from Andreas Seidl in late 2022. 

Since becoming team principal, Stella has led McLaren to the peak of their form in modern F1. This includes two Constructors’ Championships in 2024 and 2025, after a dry spell going back to 1998, and one Drivers’ Championship with Lando Norris in 2025. 

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Mercedes - Toto Wolff

Likely one of the most well-known figures in F1 as a whole, Toto Wolff has been a part of Mercedes since 2013 after four years with Williams. He became team principal in 2016, and is also the CEO and co-owner of the team.

Under Wolff’s leadership, Mercedes has seen incredible success, winning both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships every year between 2014 and 2020. Most recently, they finished second overall in the team standings during the 2025 season, and are seen as the heavy favorites for the title in 2026.

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Red Bull - Laurent Mekies

Laurent Mekies enters his first full season as team principal of Red Bull after taking over from Christian Horner in July of 2025. Prior to the switch, Mekies was the team principal of Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls.

Mekies started his career in F1 with the Arrows Grand Prix International team in 2021. Since then he has worked as a race engineer for several drivers at Minardi and as a Sporting Director and Racing Director at Ferrari. He first joined the Red Bull family as leader of then-AlphaTauri at the end of 2023.

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Ferrari - Fred Vasseur

Despite rumours of a possible leadership change during the 2025 season, Ferrari has held firm and will continue with Fred Vasseur as their leader through the 2026 season.  

Vasseur has a long history of leadership in F1. His first appointment as team principal came in 2016, when he took on the role in the Renault F1 team. The following year, he moved to Alfa Romeo, where he stayed at the forefront of the team until his move to Ferrari in 2023. This year, enters his fourth season in the role at the Scuderia.

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Williams - James Vowles

Williams is likewise keeping things steady with James Vowles as their team principal. Vowels first joined the team in 2023, after a nine-year stint under the mentorship of Toto Wolff at Mercedes from 2014.

Since taking over as team principal, Vowles has sought to bring Williams back into top form. This includes an overall improvement in form, as well as signing former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to their roster in 2025. The team finished fifth overall last year, their best result since 2018.

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Racing Bulls - Alan Permane

Alan Permane became the Racing Bulls team principal during the Red Bull leadership shakeup in the summer of 2025. Prior to that, he was the Racing Director at Racing Bulls and, like Mekies at Red Bull, will be starting his first full season as team principal this year.

Permane has been part of the F1 paddock since 1989, starting with Benetton. He took on several roles in the team through its various iterations, from Renault, to Lotus, to Renault again, finally to Alpine. In 2023, Permane left the French outfit and joined Racing Bulls the following year.

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Aston Martin - Adrian Newey

Perhaps one of the most talked-about personnel changes as of late is the recent announcement of Adrian Newey as team principal of Aston Martin from 2026. 

Newey has an incredible engineering track record, contributing to 12 Constructors’ and 14 Drivers’ Championships across his time at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. He will now fully oversee not just Aston Martin’s transition through a new era of regulations, but a new engine provider in Honda as well. This will be his first time acting as team principal.

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Haas - Ayao Komatsu

Ayao Komatsu enters his third year as team principal of the American-based team Haas in 2026. Komatsu has been part of Haas since its inception as a team in 2016. He began as a Trackside Engineering Director, and was promoted to his current position in 2024, after the departure of Haas’s first team principal, Guenther Steiner.

Since his arrival, Haas has been steadily making gains in their performance. During the 2025 racing, they scored 78 points, the second highest result in the team’s history.

Audi - Jonathan Wheatley

Another long-time member of the paddock, Jonathan Wheatley will be team principal for Audi, continuing in his role through Sauber’s rebrand into the German outfit. 

Wheatley has been working in F1 since 1991, and eventually transitioned to work with Red Bull as their Sporting Director. In the summer of 2024 it was announced that he would be leaving Red Bull to become team principal of Sauber, a role he began in April 2025.

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Alpine - Flavio Briatore (interim)

Alpine has found themselves in a tricky situation, with no official team principal since the departure of Oliver Oakes from the sport as a whole mid-season in 2025. Flavio Briatore has been acting as team principal since then until a permanent replacement for Oakes is found.

Alongside Briatore is Steven Nielsen, who is serving as Alpine’s managing director, and oversees the day-to-day operations of the team. 

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Cadillac - Graeme Lowdon

The newest addition to the F1 grid, the Cadillac F1 team will be led by Graeme Lowdon. Lowdon brings the exact knowledge that Cadillac needs, having helped get the Marussia F1 team off the ground in 2012.

He has been a key figure in the establishment of the Cadillac F1 project, and also has experience in driver management with drivers like Guanyu Zhou, who was recently signed as Cadillac’s reserve driver.

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Cover image via Red Bull Content Pool.