2017 – Paddock magazine presents the seventh 100 Most Influential People in Formula 1 list. It’s our very own annual register of the most powerful people in the industry.
This year the subject of influence in Formula 1 is as sensitive as ever. Everyone has a take, everyone has an angle, and let’s be honest here, everyone enjoys rating people once in a while.
We’ve gathered a team of experts of the racing business for this occasion: after a lot of research, the team published an online survey for motorsport professionals and then tweaked the final results.
Click on the names or photos for short bios, and most importantly, enjoy!
New to the list
Age: 63
Google searches last 12 months: 2.5 million
Back to the list
Age: 59
Google searches last 12 months: 1.9 million
New to the list
Age: 67
Google searches last 12 months: 0.9 million
Position last year: 3
Age: 71
Google searches last 12 months: 0.7 million
Position last year: 4
Age: 64
Google searches last 12 months: 0.5 million
Position last year: 5
Age: 71
Google searches last 12 months: 1.5 million
Position last year: 6
Age: 72
Google searches last 12 months: 0.4 million
Position last year: 7
Age: 45
Google searches last 12 months: 1.8 million
Position last year: 1
Age: 86
Google searches last 12 months: 5.4 million
Position last year: 10
Age: 63
Google searches last 12 months: 0.3 million
11. Christian Horner | Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 11
Age: 43
Google searches last 12 months: 1.3 million
12. Maurizio Arrivabene | Team Principal of Ferrari F1
Sport magazine
Position last year: 12
Age: 60
Google searches last 12 months: 1.1 million
13. Niki Lauda | Non-executive Chairman, Mercedes Benz
Sport magazine
Position last year: 13
Age: 68
Google searches last 12 months: 1.1 million
14. Claire Williams | Deputy Team Principal at Williams F1
Sport magazine
Position last year: 20
Age: 41
Google searches last 12 months: 0.9 million
15. Jean-François van Boxmeer | CEO, Heineken International
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: 55
Google searches last 12 months: 0.3 million
16. Carlos Slim Helú | CEO, Telmex
Sport magazine
Position last year: 15
Age: 77
Google searches last 12 months: 0.5 million
17. Charlie Whiting | F1 Race Director, FIA
Sport magazine
Position last year: 16
Age: 65
Google searches last 12 months: 0.1 million
18. Cyril Abiteboul | Managing Director of Renault Sport F1
Sport magazine
Position last year: 18
Age: 39
Google searches last 12 months: 0.7 million
19. Mansour Ojjeh | CEO of TAG Group, Co-Owner of McLaren
Sport magazine
Position last year: 35
Age: 65
Google searches last 12 months: 0.1 million
Position last year: 22
Age: 47
Google searches last 12 months: 0.1 million
21. Dr Helmut Marko | Motorsport Consultant, Red Bull
Sport magazine
Position last year: 23
Age: 74
22. Sir Frank Williams | Founder, Williams F1 Team
Sport magazine
Position last year: 9
Age: 75
23. Vijay Mallya | Owner, Force India
Sport magazine
Position last year: 17
Age: 61
24. Mike O’Driscoll | CEO, Williams Martini Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 24
Age: 61
25. Zak Brown | Executive Director, McLaren Group
Sport magazine
Position last year: 49
Age: 45
26. Jérôme Stoll | President, Renault Sport Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 26
Age: 63
27. Jonathan Neale | COO, McLaren Group
Sport magazine
Position last year: 29
Age: 54
28. Gene Haas | Owner of Haas Racing and Haas Automotive
Sport magazine
Position last year: 30
Age: 64
29. Jean-Frederic Dufour | CEO, Rolex SA
Sport magazine
Position last year: 33
Age: 48
30. Takahiro Hachigo | CEO of Honda
Sport magazine
Position last year: 36
Age: 58
31. Lewis Hamilton | Driver, Mercedes AMG Petronas
Sport magazine
Position last year: 37
Age: 32
Position last year: 38
Age: 58
33. James Allison | Technical Director, Mercedes AMG Petronas
Sport magazine
Position last year: 50
Age: 49
34. Sebastian Vettel | Driver, Scuderia Ferrari
Sport magazine
Position last year: 40
Age: 29
Position last year: 31
Age: 48
36. Yusuke Hasegawa | Head of Honda Motorsport
Sport magazine
Position last year: 41
Age: Unknown
Position last year: 44
Age: 76
38. Guenther Steiner | Team Principal, Haas Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 45
Age: 52
New to the list
Age: 61
40. Ian Holmes | Global Director of Media Rights, FOM
Sport magazine
Position last year: 56
Age: Unknown
41. Christophe Navarre | Chairman and CEO, Moet Hennessy
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: 68
42. Fernando Alonso | Driver, McLaren Honda
Sport magazine
Position last year: 55
Age: 35
Position last year: 28
Age: 56
44. Paddy Lowe | Technical Director, Williams Martini Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 19
Age: 55
45. Robin Fenwick | CEO and Founder, Right Formula
Sport magazine
Position last year: 47
Age: 36
46. Ron Dennis | Shareholder, McLaren Group
Sport magazine
Position last year: 8
Age: 69
47. Monisha Kaltenborn | Team Principal, Sauber F1 Team
Sport magazine
Position last year: 58
Age: 46
Position last year: 59
Age: 57
49. Ken Allen | CEO & Chairman, DHL
Sport magazine
Position last year: 60
Age: 62
50. Matteo Bonciani | FIA, Head of F1 Communications
Sport magazine
Position last year: 62
Age: 47
51. Michel Boeri | President, Automobile Club de Monaco
Sport magazine
Position last year: 63
Age: 40
52. Michael Diekmann | CEO, Allianz SE
Sport magazine
Position last year: 39
Age: 62
53. Franz Tost | Team Principal, Scuderia Toro Rosso
Sport magazine
Position last year: 64
Age: 61
New to the list
Age: Unknown
55. Vinod Kumar | CEO, Tata Communications
Sport magazine
Position last year: 43
Age: 52
56. Michael Roche | Executive Director of Singapore GP
Sport magazine
Position last year: 65
Age: Unknown
57. Patrick Allen | Managing Director of Silverstone
Sport magazine
Position last year: 66
Age: Unknown
58. Bobby Epstein | Chairman, Circuit of the Americas
Sport magazine
Position last year: 67
Age: Unknown
59. Eric Boullier | Racing Director, McLaren Honda
Sport magazine
Position last year: 68
Age: 43
Position last year: 57
Age: 46
New to the list
Age: 68
Position last year: 69
Age: 38
New to the list
Age: 31
64. Jean-Francois Theatre | CEO, Spa Francorchamps
Sport magazine
Position last year: 72
Age: Unknown
65. Sir Patrick Head | Co-Founder, Williams Martini Racing
Sport magazine
Back to the list
Age: 70
66. Fernando Haddad | Mayor of Sao Paulo
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: 54
67. Kimi Raikonnen | Driver, Scuderia Ferrari
Sport magazine
Position last year: 75
Age: 37
New to the list
Age: 47
69. Subrata Roy Sahara | Co-Owner, Force India
Sport magazine
Position last year: 92
Age: 68
70. Zsolt Gyulay | President and CEO of Hungaroring
Sport magazine
Position last year: 76
Age: 52
71. Hermann Tilke | Director, Tilke GmbH
Sport magazine
Position last year: 52
Age: 62
72. Adrian Newey | Chief Technical Officer, Red Bull Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 70
Age: 58
73. Sheikh Salman | CEO, Bahrain International Circuit
Sport magazine
Position last year: 78
Age: 47
New to the list
Age: Unknown
75. John Allert | CMO, McLaren Honda
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: Unknown
76. David Webb | President, JMI
Sport magazine
Position last year: 81
Age: Unknown
77. Daniel Ricciardo | Driver, Red Bull Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 82
Age: 27
78. Rob Thomas | COO, Mercedes AMG Petronas
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: Unknown
79. Barney Francis | Managing Director, Sky Sports
Sport magazine
Position last year: 84
Age: 45
Position last year: 87
Age: 57
81. Azad Rahimov | Minister of Youth and Sport, Azerbaijan
Sport magazine
Position last year: 85
Age: 52
New to the list
Age: Unknown
Position last year: 86
Age: Unknown
84. Mark Hughes | Head of MRK1 Consulting
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: Unknown
85. Martin Brundle | Expert Analyst at Sky Sports
Sport magazine
Position last year: 90
Age: 57
86. Felipe Massa | Driver, Williams Martini Racing
Sport magazine
Position last year: 91
Age: 36
New to the list
Age: 67
88. Robert Fernley | Deputy Team Principal, Force India
Sport magazine
Position last year: 94
Age: 58
89. James Allen | Journalist, blogger
Sport magazine
Position last year: 95
Age: 50
90. Goh Choon Phong | CEO, Singapore Airlines
Sport magazine
Position last year: 96
Age: 54
91. Bob Dudley | CEO, BP Castrol
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: 61
92. Enrico Zanarini | Founder and head of Media & Sport Management Ltd.
Sport magazine
Position last year: 88
Age: Unknown
93. Yath Gangakumaran | Head of Strategy, FOM
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: Unknown
94. Otmar Szafnauer | COO, Force India
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: 52
95. Frederico Bendinelli | SIAS Consultant
Sport magazine
Position last year: 71
Age: 75
96. James Key | Technical Director, Toro Rosso
Sport magazine
New to the list
Age: 45
New to the list
Age: 43
98. Damon Hill | Presenter, former Formula 1 driver
Sport magazine
Back to the list
Age: 56
New to the list
Age: Unknown
100. Eddie Jordan | Presenter, former Formula 1 team boss
Sport magazine
Back to the list
Age: 69
The ones to watch:
Alejandro Agag – could it be that the captain of Formula E will have a growing influence on how things will turn out for Formula 1 in the coming years?
Karun Chandhok – expert analyst, Official Williams Heritage Driver, former Formula 1, Formula E and GP2 racer, sought-after opinion former.
Paul Hembery – now out of the list and occupying a new position at Pirelli, Paul could be back anytime as he’s the one who guided the tyre manufacturer’s return to Formula 1.
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