The 10 most POWERFUL F1 figures: Lewis Hamilton still among the sport's top dogs

ola kallenius, lewis hamilton, stefano domenicali, f1, graphic — Photo: © IMAGO

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The 10 most POWERFUL F1 figures: Lewis Hamilton still among the sport's top dogs

Who holds the most power in F1?

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 7 June 2025 13:16 Updated: 23:10

Formula 1 is known for its fierce competition on track, but be assured there are plenty of battles off it too as various individuals, teams and organisations fight for supremacy.

The names and faces are always changing and the balance of power is always shifting because of this, which probably means if you read until the end of this top 10 the order might have alternated two or three times since you started.

F1 HEADLINES: Lewis Hamilton holds key meeting as Red Bull driver swap discussed

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But who really is the big dog in Formula 1? Here are GPFans' top 10 most powerful people in F1.

10.Flavio Briatore

Perhaps not as influential as he was at earlier points in his career given his advancing years at 75. But for someone who was once given a lifetime ban in F1 to somehow shuffle his way back into the paddock - and at the team where he picked up the ban (Alpine/Renault) - it is quite some comeback. His paddock experience and credentials are arguably unrivalled and it gives him the edge over many in the F1 circus.

9.Christian Horner

Has already survived one huge PR nightmare at Red Bull where many expected him to depart at some point early in 2024 following the internal investigations and carnage at the team following staff complaints. Twenty years as team principal and over 400 races under his belt is not to be sniffed at and arguably nobody at Red Bull is in a better position to know how the F1 team runs from top to bottom. The big question is if he were to depart anytime soon as reports have suggested, would the team start a new fresh era, or be in for a very painful transitional rebuild - and how does that affect F1 world champion and Red Bull star Max Verstappen (more on him soon.)

8.Toto Wolff

Arguably the mastermind and central core piece of the Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton domination during the 2010s. It's hard to find a team principal who commands the respect, knowledge and experience anywhere else on the grid. This makes him incredibly influential to any driver coming into the sport. If you were a young driver coming into F1 and could pick any team principal, is there a better choice than the Austrian (although a respectful nod to James Vowles at Williams here)? And that's before we mention his wife Susie is also the managing director of the F1 Academy series.

7.Max Verstappen

You only have to look at the drivers' market for the 2025 season to even get a flavour of just how influential Max Verstappen is in the paddock. With Red Bull vulnerable, there will be a huge scrap among teams desperate to convince the Dutchman that his best shot of winning the title is with them and that has a knock-on effect for any other driver. But he is also commanding power off the track too. To force the FIA into a squirming position over the swearing row shows no one is safe from Verstappen's wrath - and it doesn't take much to rattle the Dutch star's cage as we saw in Spain...

Max Verstappen is not shy in taking on the FIA

6.Mohammed Ben Sulayem

Struggling to gain the respect of the F1 grid, and that perhaps leaves the FIA president a bit lower down the order than he perhaps should be. Yet still when you are top of the pile of an organisation that governs F1 - he clearly has plenty of clout and authority to make some huge calls in the sport.

5.Ola Kallenius

Wolff may be a Mercedes big dog, but it's the CEO of the Mercedes-Benz Group that really has the pull, even his name may be unfamiliar. It's one you are very unlikely to hear on a weekend to weekend basis but he knows how F1 works and also has a strong economics background too. Put simply if the numbers don't add up at Mercedes, he won't hesitate in pulling the plug on the team and that in turn puts McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams into a bit of crisis in terms of their power unit supplier. Put even more simply, F1 needs to keep him happy.

4.Lewis Hamilton

The 2025 season is potentially looking like the start of Hamilton's decline down the pecking order on the track. That's no dig at the seven-time world champion. Father Time remains undefeated. But the 40-year-old is a huge megastar whose popularity and mainstream crossover are light years ahead of anyone else on the grid. When Hamilton speaks, F1 and those associated with it listen - and that pull hasn't diminished that much, if at all, since his domination of the sport ended in 2021.

3.Stefano Domenicali

F1's top dog who has done it all. Impressively climbed the ranks at Ferrari to eventually become a very likeable team principal in 2008 (when the team last won a title) and through the team's years with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel before resigning in 2014. Became CEO and president of F1 in 2021 and his four years and counting in the role suggest a decent track record especially given his strong Ferrari (more on them shortly) links.

2.Derek Chang

FIA take care of much of the sporting decisions that take place in F1 but like any sport in the 21st century there is a huge demand coming from the commercial sector too and that's where F1's owners Liberty Media fit in. Chang replaced Greg Maffei as president and CEO of Liberty earlier this year - and it's he Domenicali must answer to when it comes to taking the sport forward. Money talks and Chang will be making sure any F1 decisions made will make financial sense for Liberty's interests.

John Elkann (centre) convinced Lewis Hamilton to join Ferrari

1.John Elkann

Liberty may have the puppet strings on F1, but Ferrari arguably hold the nuclear codes. F1 would take a heavy hit without Liberty, but replacement owners could conceivably be found. But could F1 survive without Ferrari? Big question. It would take huge stones to fallout with the legendary Italian team and push them out of F1 and no single person or organisation would want to be associated with that potential burden. With that in mind, it's vitally important you keep the Ferrari chairman happy, especially a shrewd businessman like Elkann who can convince Hamilton to leave Mercedes and who also doesn't fall far away from the tree of the famous Agnelli family.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Christian Horner Alpine Flavio Briatore Renault