F1 team principals’ rich list: Net worth figures revealed for Wolff, Horner and more

Editor 01 Apr 2025 12:30 AM

F1 team principals Toto Wolff and Christian Horner shake hands. Abu Dhabi, December 2021.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull's Christian Horner shakes hands at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Abu Dhabi, December 2021.

One of the F1 team principals has now officially hit a landmark in personal wealth, after it was reported that Toto Wolff has become a billionaire for the first time.

The Mercedes team boss also owns a significant stake in the team he runs as chief executive, and given the rapid rise in the team’s fortunes in the past decade, his return on investment has been more than significant as his success has been reflected along with that of Mercedes itself. With that, we have taken a look at the reported net worth of all the F1 team principals throughout the paddock as of 2024, with some ranking more highly than others.

F1 team principals’ rich list: Reported team bosses’ net worths

Toto Wolff net worth – $1.6billion [£1.27bn]

Prominent American business magazine Forbes listed Mercedes CEO and team principal Wolff as having hit the landmark of becoming a billionaire in April 2023, making it onto the official list of Forbes Sports Billionaires for the first time.

Though with the increased value of his stake in Mercedes, his net worth grew by a reported $600m for 2024, according to the same publication.

The Silver Arrows boss runs the team on a day-to-day basis but he also owns a one-third stake in the Mercedes F1 operation, alongside parent company Daimler AG and ‘principal partners’ INEOS.

Wolff’s professional background came through banking and he gained wealth after founding two investment firms, but his first foray in Formula 1 came via putting money into Williams in 2009, before purchasing an initial 30% stake in Mercedes at the end of 2012 for a reported $50m – though given the team’s subsequent success, the value of his stake in the team is now likely to be substantially higher than what he paid for it.

This along with his other business success makes Wolff, by quite some distance, the richest of the F1 team principals.

Christian Horner net worth – $50m [£40m]

It’s a significant gap between first and second on this list, but Red Bull team principal Horner still counts himself among the richest people working in Formula 1.

His reported salary is also believed to be more than $10m per year at Red Bull, which would make him the highest-paid of the individual F1 team principals in the paddock.

Horner became the youngest team principal in Formula 1 when he was placed in charge at Red Bull when they entered the sport, with the Briton being only 31 at the time.

He quit driving and founded the Arden team in the junior formulas, making investments and had even looked to bring Arden into Formula 1, before being put in charge of Red Bull when the energy drinks company bought out Jaguar’s existing operation in Milton Keynes back in 2004.

Horner has overseen the team throughout their time in the sport, which has seen seven Drivers’ titles and six Constructors’ titles among their considerable success in Formula 1.

Fred Vasseur – $7m [£5.6m]

Fred Vasseur being at Ferrari has seen him move up the reported net worth list among F1 team principals in receny years, having previously been at Alfa Romeo Sauber and Renault as team boss over the previous six years.

He has moved into one of the most prestigious, and most highly-pressured, jobs in Formula 1, and his salary reportedly exceeds $5m per year with the Scuderia, and is expected to climb this list further in the coming years.

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James Vowles – $5m [£4m]

Vowles is one of the newer team principals in Formula 1, having taken on his first top job with Williams in 2023, but the long-time strategy director at Mercedes was one of the key cogs behind the team’s title successes throughout the turbo hybrid era and will naturally have been put into one of its highest-paid positions.

Vowles was with the Brackley team throughout their time as BAR, Honda, Brawn and Mercedes, working his way up to becoming motorsport strategy director, and was eventually chosen to become the new Williams team principal in time for the 2023 season after the departure of Jost Capito.

Oliver Oakes – $2.5m [£2m]

Having taken the reins from Bruno Famin at Alpine in 2024, Oliver Oakes took on the mantle of becoming the second-youngest team principal in the history of Formula 1 aged just 36.

Having founded the successful Hitech Grand Prix junior team and performed in junior categories prior to that, he has operated a business successfully for quite some time prior to his arrival in Formula 1.

According to information listed on Companies House, Oakes ran his own recruitment firm, Oakes Recruitment, and remains a director of Hitech as well as another junior team, Comtec Racing.

Andrea Stella – $1.5m [£1.2m]

Like Vowles at Williams, Stella is also in his first role as team principal in Formula 1, having been a long-time presence in the paddock with different teams.

Stella took the reins at McLaren after Andreas Seidl left for Sauber, earning a promotion from racing director with the team having worked under Seidl previously.

He began his career in Formula 1 with Ferrari in the early 2000s, serving as performance engineer to Michael Schumacher through his dominant years with the Scuderia before becoming race engineer for Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, before moving to McLaren in 2015.

Laurent Mekies – $1.25m [£1m]

Like his other new team principals, Laurent Mekies does not have a widely-reported net worth, though having worked in high-ranking positions in his career, he will likely have been earning a decent salary throughout.

He took over from Franz Tost at VCARB, rebranded from AlphaTauri, at the start of 2024, having previously been with the Faenza-based team as chief engineer in their time as Toro Rosso.

He spent nine years there from 2005 to 2014, before joining the FIA and working his way up to F1’s deputy race director, before becoming Ferrari’s sporting director in 2018, where he was then promoted to deputy team principal and racing director in 2021, before leaving the Scuderia in 2023.

Ayao Komatsu – $800,000 [£650,000]

Ayao Komatsu spent time at the likes of BAR and Lotus before moving to Haas in 2016 to become their trackside engineering director, and stepping up to replace Guenther Steiner as team principal in 2024.

Komatsu reported himself that, as of 2025, Haas became profitable and would not need a cash injection from team owner Gene Haas, after its technical tie-in with Toyota and sponsorship money took effect, alongside an improved showing in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship.

Andy Cowell – Unknown

Andy Cowell took on the joint role of team principal alongside his duties as Aston Martin CEO ahead of the 2025 season, and having held a high-level position at Mercedes at the top of their High Performance Powertrains division, one reported estimate placed his net worth as high as £12m.