Title: Who gets the blame for poor performance in extreme teams: an analysis of Formula 1 racing

Authors: John Nowland; Damien Cannavan; Madeline Trimble; Nathan Hartman

Addresses: College of Business, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61761, USA ' College of Business, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61761, USA ' College of Business, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61761, USA ' College of Business, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61761, USA

Abstract: Formula 1 (F1) is an extreme team sport where performance is determined by many team members. It is an ideal setting to examine extreme teams and to investigate, when things go wrong, who is responsible and who gets fired? Using data on F1 teams during the 2010-2023 seasons, we examine whether changes in F1 team managers (team principals and technical directors) and in F1 drivers are linked to poor team performance. We find that poor team performance has no effect on the likelihood of team principal and technical director changes. However, driver changes occur more often after poor team performance, particularly for number 2 drivers. These results contrast with other professional sports where team managers are regularly fired for poor team performance. Our results are also at odds with prior research that shows F1 performance is determined mostly by teams (and not drivers). We propose that the scarcity of qualified F1 team managers and the more abundant pool of potential F1 drivers could explain teams' willingness to replace drivers (rather than managers) after poor team performance.

Keywords: team performance; drivers; Formula 1; team principal; technical director.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2025.153082

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2025 Vol.25 No.2/3, pp.133 - 158

Received: 06 Jun 2025
Accepted: 13 Nov 2025
Published online: 21 Apr 2026 *

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