As the engines roar back to life for the 2025 season, the spotlight shines not only on the drivers, but also on the masterminds behind the teams. The team principals - responsible for managing all aspects of the team, from drivers and engineers to mechanics and marketing, both at the track and in the factory - hold the keys to navigating the relentless world of motorsport.

With the 2025 season promising to be one of the most fiercely competitive in recent memory, these leaders face the monumental task of orchestrating every aspect of their teams' success. With such a high pressured role, it's no surprise that the job brings in a pretty impressive paycheck. But which team principal of the grid this year is the richest?

There are several new team principals for 2025 - some that have already started their role and some that will take the reins later this year as the teams look ahead to regulation changes in 2026. As such, their total net worths are not yet known.

This includes Jonathan Wheatly, , who is set to begin his first role as team principal when he takes the reins of the Audi F1 team (currently Kick Sauber) no later than July.

took over as team principal of Haas for the 2024 season, replacing the outspoken Guenther Steiner, who became one of the biggest starts of Netflix's . Komatsu spent time at teams including BAR and Lotus before moving to Haas in 2016 to become their trackside engineering director. Komatsu is said to be worth around £650,000, while Steiner is said to currently be worth some £3.9 million.

Aston Martin's will take on the joint role of team principal alongside his duties as CEO for the 2025 season, having held a high-level position at Mercedes as the top of their High Performance Powertrains division. While his total net worth has not been widely publicised, one reported estimate placed his net worth as high as £12 million.

Like his fellow new team principals, of Racing Bulls (previously VCARB and AlphaTauri) does not have a widely reported net worth, though having worked in high-ranking positions in recent years, he will likely have been earning a decent salary. According to he is said to be worth around £1 million.

He took over from Franz Tost at VCARB at the start of 2024, having previously been with the team as chief engineer. In 2014, he joined the FIA and worked his way up to F1's deputy race director before becoming Ferrari's sporting director in 2018. He worked his was up to deputy team principal and racing director, before leaving the Scuderia in 2023.

McLaren's took the reins after Andreas Seidl left for Sauder, earning a promotion from racing director with the team. He began his F1 career with Ferarri in the early 2000s, serving as performance engineer to during his dominating stint with Ferrari, as well as Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. He moved to McLaren in 2015. He is now said to be worth around £1.2 million.

Taking the reins at Alpine in 2024, became the second youngest team principal in F1 history at the age of 36. Having founded the successful Hitech Grand Prix junior team in 2015 which has drivers in F2 and F1 Academy, he has operated a business successfully for quite some time prior to his arrival in F1. He is currently worth around £2 million.

served as the long-time strategy director at Mercedes and was one of the key members behind the team's title success with Lewis Hamilton. He took his first top job with Williams in 2023, replacing Jost Capito. Vowels was with the Brackley team throughout their time as BAR, Honda, Brawn and Mercedes, but moved on when he felt "too comfortable" and needed a new challenge. He is now worth around £4 million.

being at Ferrari has seen him move up the reported net worth list among F1 team principals in recent years, having previously been at Alfa Romeo Sauber and Renault as team boss. He was team principal at Sauber during first F1 season with Sauber.

Vasseur has taken on one of the most prestigious, and most highly pressured, jobs in F1. His salary is said to be around £3.9 million per year with the Scuderia and is worth around £5.6 million in total.

Christian Horner is the second richest team principal in F1, worth around £40 million. Horner became the youngest team principal in F1 when he was placed in charge of Red Bull when they entered the sport, at the age of 31. His reported salary is believed to be more than £7.7 million, which would make him the highest-paid of group in the paddock.

Under his wing, the team has won six Constructors' titles and eight Drivers' titles, with Sebastian Vettel (2010-13) and Max Verstappen (2021-24).

Toto Wolff is the richest F1 team principal on the 2025 grid. In April 2023, Forbes listed the Mercedes CEO and team principal as having become a billionaire, making it onto the official Sports Billionaires list for the first time. Wolff runs the Silver Arrows on a day-to-day basis but also owns a one-third stake in the Mercedes F1 operation, alongside parent company Daimler AG and "principal partners" INEOS.

This, coupled with his other business success, means he is now worth around £1.27 billion - 30 times more than the second-richest, Horner.