What is the Constructors’ Championship in Formula One?

Formula One is a series of auto races each year that result in two major awards for drivers and their teams. Those awards include one for a driver who scores the most points throughout the season, and one for the team who scores the most points throughout the season.

So, what is the Constructors’ Championship in Formula One? The latter of the two aforementioned awards is called the F1 World Constructors’ Championship.

The Constructors’ Championship win is awarded to the F1 racing team that scores the most points, rather to an individual driver. This award helps recognize the team constructors, which includes the people who design, build, and fine tune the car and its engine. 

In this article, learn more about the meaning of constructors in Formula One, how a team wins the World Constructors’ Championship, and which teams have achieved a win in this competition over the course of F1 history.

What does Constructors Mean in F1?

According to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, or FIA, which is the governing body for the Formula One Grands Prix, a constructor is defined as any person, corporate, or unincorporated body that builds the engine or chassis of the vehicle and also owns the rights to that design. 

Typically, the constructor’s name is quite obvious in a Formula 1 race, because it will also be the team name, or at least part of it. Frequently, you’ll see the team name, constructors’ name, and entrants’ name used interchangeably.

What’s Meant by Constructors’ Champion in Formula 1?

So, just what is the Constructors’ Championship in Formula 1? The World Constructors’ Championship and the World Drivers’ Championship are run simultaneously in a season.

A Formula 1 season runs between eight and nine months out of the year, with races in different countries every other week or so, on different purpose-built tracks. There are usually 20-22 races in a season.

During the course of the season, each Formula 1 team, or constructor, has two dedicated drivers. The drivers race individually and often go head to head, although sometimes team orders force one driver on a team to yield to his teammate or offer defense.

While each driver is out to win his own race in order to take home the World Drivers’ Championship trophy, the more wins (and points) the team scores as a whole, the more likely they are to win the Constructors’ Championship.

How Do the F1 Constructors Championship Points Work?

To understand how a World Constructors’ Championship trophy is awarded, you need to first understand how individual drivers score points. That’s because the sum of the points earned by each driver is what eventually leads to victory for the constructors.

To win the World Drivers’ Championship, a single driver must score the most points over the course of the season. Points are only awarded to drivers who place in the top 10 of the 20 drivers on the track.

But what is the constructors championship in Formula 1 scoring system? The constructors earn points for both of their drivers that finish in the top 10, and that sum of points determines the constructors’ standing. This means two things:

1. The World Constructor’s Championship can be determined long before a race season is over, because at some point, the math will show that no other team can possibly take the points lead
2. The World Constructor’s Championship is not always awarded to the team that has the World Championship driver, which has happened 11 times in Formula One history including in 2021

This keeps things interesting, and rewards all of the team’s hard work that goes into making the best possible Formula One car.

Points for drivers are awarded as follows:

First place driver gets 25 pts

Second place driver gets 18 pts

Third place driver gets 15 pts

Fourth place driver gets 12 pts

Fifth place driver gets 10 pts

Sixth place driver gets 8 pts

Seventh place driver gets 6 pts

Eighth place driver gets 4 pts

Ninth place driver gets 2 pts

Tenth place driver gets 1 pt

While watching F1, you’ll often hear commentators mention that a driver is “in the points,” which means they’re in a position to guarantee that they, and their team, will score points during that race, unless something catastrophic happens. Drivers must finish a race to earn points.

Who are the F1 Constructors?

In 2022, the Formula One Constructors are as follows. The Team Name indicates the chassis maker.

Who Won the F1 Constructors Championship?

Despite Red Bull driver Max Verstappen winning the World Drivers’ Championship in F1 in 2021, Red Bull Racing did not take home the Constructors’ trophy. The Constructors’ Championship went to Mercedes instead, , as it has since 2014, by a slim four percent margin.

Red Bull took home the Constructors’ Championship between 2010 and 2013 with its Renault engines. In 2009, a Mercedes engine took home the prize under the Brawn team name.

Ferrari, with Ferrari engines, won the Constructors’ Championship in 2007 and 2008, and for six consecutive years between 1999 and 2004. Ferrari is the winningest team in the Constructors’ Championship since F1’s beginnings.

Final Thoughts

The F1 World Constructors’ Championship is an exciting side-by-side competition that takes place during the regular season of Formula One. It rewards the team’s chassis and engine builders, who spend upwards of $250 million per year to build, test, and maintain their Formula One cars, the fastest racing cars on the planet.

More than 170 chassis builders have competed for the Constructors’ Championship over the years, but the prestigious honor has only been bestowed to 15 teams over F1’s 63-season history.

While individual drivers take most of the glory on race day, the Constructors’ Championship is one to watch for avid racing fans!