Jack Brabham and the F1 champions who built teams in their own name

5. Keke Rosberg

It’s a race for our final spot between the ’82 world champion and his predecessor as F1 king, Nelson Piquet. But where Piquet Sports’ aim was to bring Nelson Jr to prominence, Nico Rosberg’s exploits in Formula BMW and F3 were only a small part in Team Rosberg’s lifespan. It initially ran Keke with Klaus Ludwig in an Opel DTM/ITC team in 1995, moved into Super Touring with Nissan, then became a mainstay of the reborn DTM. As one of Audi’s teams, it carried René Rast, above, to three titles.

4. Graham Hill

After a couple of years with Brabham, the 1962 and ’68 F1 champion formed Embassy Hill Racing for ’73, initially to run the gaffer in a customer car produced by new F1 constructor Shadow. For ’74 the team expanded to two cars, commissioned from Lola, before turning constructor in its own right for ’75. Hill hung up his helmet during the season, but gave Tony Brise, above, and Alan Jones chances. All looked rosy for ’76 until Hill and Brise were among those killed in an air crash.

3. John Surtees

He was never one to conform. John Surtees was still recovering from injuries sustained in a 1965 crash at Mosport as the following year dawned – by the end of which he’d have walked out on Ferrari, joined Cooper, and won the inaugural Can-Am title, above, with a Lola run by the embryonic Team Surtees. He turned constructor for ’69, in Formula 5000, before the first F1 car – the TS7 of ’70. Surtees never had the success of Brabham, but twice won the Oulton Park Gold Cup for his own team.

2. Jackie Stewart

Paul Stewart Racing started in 1988 to run Jackie Stewart’s son in Formula Ford 2000. Stewart Sr was very much the team patriarch, guiding it through the next decade to success in F3000 and domination in British F3, hoisting drivers such as David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti and Gil de Ferran on their way. When Stewart GP was born for ’97, it was Jackie at the helm. A win at the Nürburgring, above, with Johnny Herbert in ’99 was the high spot; the sale to Ford for a Jaguar rebrand arguably the low.

1. Jack Brabham

Of course it’s Brabham at the top of this list – still (forever?) the only driver to win the Formula 1 title in a car bearing his own name. Brabham Racing Organisation entered F1 in 1962, originally with Lotus chassis before the BT3 came on stream for the German GP, but Jack and his old pal Ron Tauranac had already been producing customer cars for Formula Junior. Two Repco-powered F1 crowns – Brabham in ’66, above, Denny Hulme in ’67 – came at a time when Brabhams also proliferated in F2 and F3. Upon his retirement as a driver, Jack handed the reins to Tauranac, who then passed them to Bernie Ecclestone…