Analyzing F1 Teams and Their Most Common Causes of DNFs

In the high-speed world of Formula 1, every lap counts—but for some teams, reliability issues, driver errors, and unforeseen incidents have turned race days into early exits. While some teams have built reputations for rock-solid reliability, others have struggled with persistent technical failures, poor driver choices, or sheer bad luck.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the most common reasons for Did Not Finish (DNF) results for various teams over the years.

Teams that had bad luck with F1 Engine suppliers

We'll assess which teams have excelled in engine durability, which have fallen victim to mechanical gremlins, and which have placed their trust in drivers who may not have been ready for the challenge. Did some teams suffer from repeated driver-induced crashes? Were there manufacturers that consistently delivered bulletproof power units?

We’ll break it all down, using real data to paint a clearer picture of which teams maximized their chances of seeing the checkered flag—and which too often ended up on the sidelines.

For context, we previously explored the most common reasons for DNFs in F1 and the drivers who were most frequently involved. Now, let’s shift our focus to the teams and analyze how their strategies, engineering, and driver choices played a role in their race-ending misfortunes.

And I know there are so many factors (different eras, dominant cars, seasons with more than 2 cars per team etc etc) but remember that this is made for fun and maybe we also get to some conclusions along the way!

F1 DNFs caused by Engine issues

Lets start with the most common cause, and that is DNF caused by Engine issues. Throughout the history of F1 there have been 2026 Engine related DNFs (quite prophetic with the new regulations in 2026) and obviously the teams that had most cars in F1 races have most DNFs by engine issues - but if we divide that number by total cars the team had in F1 races we will get % of DNFs caused by engine issues for each team - and the numbers get wild.

TOP 10 F1 Teams with most Engine related DNFs

F1 Team	Engine DNFs	Total cars Participating in F1
Ferrari	166	2439
McLaren	126	1923
Tyrell	99	881
Team Lotus	95	871
BRM	87	562
Williams	83	1676
Brabham	80	662
Maserati	68	436
Minardi	63	672
Ligier	62	611

Now let's shake up the table a little - lets see who are the TOP F1 Teams with highest percentage of Engine DNFs from total cars they had entering F1 Races. And to remove teams that don't have enough data we will use only teams that had at least 100 cars in F1 races (at least 50 races with 2 cars per race).

F1 Team	% of Engine DNFs	Number of Engine DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Larrousse	16.67%	36	216
Dallara	15.97%	23	144
Cooper-Maserati	15.67%	21	134
Maserati	15.60%	68	436
BRM	15.48%	87	562

We can also see which F1 Teams have had most reliable engines. Again we will show only F1 teams that had 100 or more cars in F1 Races.

F1 Team	% of Engine DNFs	Number of Engine DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Caterham	0.89%	1	112
AlphaTauri	1.20%	2	166
Haas	1.32%	5	380
Mercedes	1.38%	9	652
Red Bull	1.52%	12	788
Force India	1.65%	7	424
HRT	1.72%	2	116
Lotus F1	1.95%	3	154
Alpine	2.22%	4	180
Toyota	2.50%	7	280

F1 DNFs caused by "Accident"

The second most common DNF reason is accident. As Accident we define driver mistakes, ending in a gravel or wall etc (not to be confused with Collision which will be 3rd reason on this list).

This list might maybe point at which teams had least experienced drivers, or are giving chances too soon, also will show the teams that seek experience and talent. Again the initial table will have the teams with most cars in F1, but the percentages might paint a different picture.

TOP 5 F1 Teams with DNFs caused by Accident

F1 Team	% of Accident DNFs	Number of Accident DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Ferrari	3.94%	96	2439
McLaren	3.22%	62	1923
Williams	2.98%	50	1676
Tyrrell	5.33%	47	881
Team Lotus	5.28%	46	871

TOP 5 F1 Teams with highest % of Accident related DNFs

F1 Team	% of Accident DNFs	Number of Accident DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Kurtis Kraft	12.83%	29	226
Surtees	10.00%	26	260
Shadow	9.95%	21	211
Ensign	7.79%	12	154
Team Lotus	5.28%	46	871

And lastly we go to the Top F1 Teams that are choosing wisely and have smallest percentage of accident caused DNFs

F1 Team	% of Accident DNFs	Number of Accident DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Mercedes	0.92%	6	652
Benetton	0.96%	5	520
Footwork	1.03%	2	194
BAR	1.69%	4	236
Caterham	1.75%	2	112

F1 DNFs caused by Collision

Now lets see which teams choose most aggressive F1 Drivers. And I know, maybe the driver that DNF from collision was not at fault, but if you keep getting involved in such events maybe there is something in you too... who can tell.

Top 10 F1 Teams with most DNFs from Collisions

F1 Team	% of Collision DNFs	Number of Collision DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Williams	5.25%	88	1676
McLaren	4.16%	80	1923
Ferrari	2.79%	68	2439
Sauber	7.41%	62	837
Jordan	7.20%	36	500
Toro Rosso	6.53%	35	536
Ligier	5.40%	33	611
Renault	4.07%	32	787
Tyrrell	3.63%	32	881
Red Bull	3.81%	30	788

Top 10 F1 Teams with highest % of DNFs from Collisions

F1 Team	% of Collision DNFs	Number of Collision DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
Jaguar	7.65%	13	170
Sauber	7.41%	62	837
Footwork	7.22%	14	194
Jordan	7.20%	36	500
Prost	6.67%	11	165
Toro Rosso	6.53%	35	536
Lotus F1	6.49%	10	154
Force India	6.37%	27	424
Spyker	5.88%	2	34
Haas F1 Team	5.79%	22	380
Alpine F1 Team	5.56%	10	180

Top 10 F1 Teams with lowest % of DNFs from Collisions

F1 Team	% of Collision DNFs	Number of Collision DNFs	Number of cars in F1 Races
BRM	0.53%	3	562
Ensign	0.65%	1	154
AGS	0.81%	1	123
Brabham	1.21%	8	662
Fittipaldi	1.29%	2	155
Zakspeed	1.50%	2	133
Lola	1.82%	3	165
Marussia	1.83%	2	109
Cooper	1.94%	2	103
March	2.10%	11	524

I know this has been a bit unusual post but I really hope you learned something from it and that it was a fun read.

Check some of our other analysis and let us know your thoughts:

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