The Best F1 Teams that no longer exist

Formula One is a dynamic sport, and the teams are no exception. F1 teams rarely remain forever, but rather come and go or rebrand themselves into another brand, hence there have been numerous F1 teams that no longer race or race under a different name throughout history.

Money is important in Formula One, and most teams leave for financial reasons. Some deceased teams left an indelible influence on the sport, while others faded into obscurity and merely survived race after race.

1-BENETTON (1986-2001)

The prominent clothing company Benetton team was formed from the remnants of the Toleman team and was led by flamboyant billionaire Flavio Briatore until 1997.

Benetton began as a midfield team but quickly rose to prominence, earning success in the mid-1990s and peaking with Michael Schumacher. They won the drivers' championship in 1994 and 1995, as well as the constructors' championship in 1995.

The team has 102 podiums, 27 wins (19 of which were won by Schumacher), 15 pole positions, and 36 fastest laps. It had multiple engine providers, including BMW, Ford-Cosworth, and Playlife, but they won the world championships with Renault.

The team collapsed as important players such as Schumacher, Ross Brawn, and Nigel Stepney left for Ferrari, and it was sold to Renault in 2001.

2- LOTUS RACING / TEAM LOTUS / CATERHAM (2010-2014)

This team's history is similar to that of HRT in that they always had finance issues and had one of the slowest cars on the grid, unable to collect points in races, although surviving two more seasons.

Lotus Racing was founded with the help of the Malaysian government and a collection of enterprises including Air Asia. The squad had a squabble with Lotus Cars because the name was deceptive, despite the fact that it had nothing to do with Colin Chapman's historic team.

In 2012, Tony Fernandes, a businessman, bought Team Lotus and sold it to British sportscar manufacturer Caterham Cars, becoming the Caterham F1 Team.

Despite the new buyers, neither the financing nor the results improved, and by 2014, the team had skipped multiple races owing to a shortage of funds and had to rely on crowdsourcing to compete in the final event. The team was auctioned off and dissolved at the end of the year.

Lotus F1 Team was a British team formed after the Lotus Renault team was purchased by the Luxembourg firm Genii Capital at the end of 2011. It was named after its branding partner Group Lotus, and the iconic gold and black colors were revived.

Their greatest seasons were in 2012 and 2013, with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean finishing fourth in the constructors' championship. Raikkonen had one win and six podium places in 2012, while Grosjean had three podium finishes. In 2013, the Finn had one win and seven podium finishes, while the French had six podium finishes.

However, after Raikkonen's departure and the 2014 rule revisions, the team became extremely uncompetitive. It went on to compete for points, with Grosjean finishing on the podium at the Belgian GP in 2015. Furthermore, they began to experience financial difficulties in 2013.

The team was sold back to Renault at the end of 2015.

3- TOYOTA

Toyota's debut season in Formula One was in 2002. Expectations were high as the world's largest vehicle manufacturer with one of the sport's greatest budgets, but they never won a race in eight seasons.

Toyota had several famous drivers throughout their reign, including former World Champions Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, and Fernando Alonso. Drivers included Olivier Panis, Cristiano da Matta, Timo Glock, and Kamui Kobayashi.

The squad had a relatively uncompetitive first three seasons. Jarno Trulli won three podiums and Ralf Schumacher won two in 2005, but they finished sixth in the constructors' title. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to win this season.

Unfortunately, the global recession hit Toyota hard and they decided to end their F1 program in 2009. Despite this, they will always remain a fond memory of one of the top F1 teams that no longer exist.

4- RENAULT

Renault competition F1 Team (ren-oh) is a Formula One constructor that previously raced in the competition twice, from 1977 to 1985 and again from 2002 to 2011, until acquiring the Lotus F1 Team in 2016. The team has competed in 304 races, winning 35 of them, and has won two Constructors' titles, in 2005 and 2006, with driver Fernando Alonso winning the Drivers' title in both seasons.

They remained an engine supplier after the 1985 season. They stopped in 1986, but returned in 1989. They quit Formula One again at the conclusion of 1997, only to return in 2001. They supplied engines to numerous teams from 2007 to 2015. Despite supplying engines to Red Bull in 2016, the TAG Heuer brand is displayed, and despite supplying engines to Toro Rosso in 2017, the constructor was not tagged with Renault's name.Since 2018, the squad has also supplied engines to McLaren.

From 2012 to 2015, they competed as Lotus. Previously, the Caterham team was known as the Lotus squad. Alpine is the team's name since 2021.