"Team Enstone" is the colloquial name for a British Formula One team which has competed under various different identities and been owned by various companies during its history; its name comes from the village of Enstone in Oxfordshire, where it has been based since late-1991, having previously operated out of Witney.[1][2][3] The team's factory is called the Whiteways Technical Centre,[4] and is one of several Formula One team bases located in relatively close proximity to the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire.[5] As of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix,[6] forty-five drivers have competed for the five different constructors in the lineage in 772 Grands Prix, winning fifty of them.[1][7] The outfit has been noted for its frequent changes of identity.[1][8] The organisation won the Formula One World Constructors' Championship as Benetton Formula in 1995 and as Renault F1 Team in 2005 and 2006.[9] Although the organisation has changed names several times, it has legally remained the same company since the 1980s.[10][11]
Team Enstone factory in 2015
The original constructor in the lineage was Toleman, which competed in other categories of motor racing during the 1970s, initially operating out of a workshop in Kidlington and moving into the Witney factory ahead of the 1980 European Formula Two Championship,[12] before entering Formula One starting from the 1981 Formula One World Championship.[13] Toleman was sponsored by the Benetton Group fashion brand before being purchased by the company ahead of the 1986 Formula One World Championship; the organisation was rebranded into a new constructor called Benetton Formula.[14] Although officially a different constructor, Benetton was still effectively the same team as Toleman.[15] The purchase took place in the first half of 1985, leading the team's staff to consider that season to be the first season of the Benetton era even if the record books still name them as Toleman during that year.[16] The Benetton Group being Italian was perceived as easing Toleman in securing a tyre supply from Pirelli, and it was considered important to find a buyer that would retain the design team led by Rory Byrne.[17] Benetton initially continued to race under a British licence, before switching to an Italian licence for the 1996 Formula One World Championship.[18][19]
^"Special resolution of Toleman Group Motorsport Limited". Companies House. 29 January 1986. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021. This document states that the legal name of the company was "Toleman Group Motorsport Limited" and not "Inremco 60 Limited" immediately before it changed its name to "Benetton Formula Limited".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)