Benetton

Benetton arrived in Formula 1 as a team in 1986, when the Italian clothing company took over the Toleman operation it had been sponsoring. Backed by the colourful Benetton fashion empire, the team became a serious force through the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Benetton's defining moment came with Michael Schumacher, who joined in 1991 and won back-to-back drivers' championships in 1994 and 1995, the latter accompanied by the team's only constructors' title. Those years, masterminded by Flavio Briatore with technical input from Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, established the core of personnel that would later carry Ferrari to dominance.

After Schumacher's departure the team gradually faded before being bought by Renault and rebranded for 2002, its facilities and people forming the basis of the works Renault squad that would itself win titles later in the decade.

Benetton brought a brash, modern commercial energy to Formula 1 and proved a perfect springboard for Michael Schumacher's rise. Its mid-1990s success seeded a generation of championship-winning talent and engineering, making the team a crucial link in the lineage that runs from Toleman through Renault to the modern Alpine squad.