Honourable mentions…

Any list such as this will generate controversy as much for the names it leaves out as the ones it includes. In this case, the most glaring omission is the man who might have been number one had we been writing this time last year: Bernie Ecclestone. How times have changed for the 86-year-old. One minute lord of all he surveyed; the next moment his influence eradicated in one fell swoop.

Of the drivers, the obvious omission is four-time champion Sebastian Vettel. His reputation has taken a bit of a battering over the past few years as first Daniel Ricciardo beat him in 2014 and then Kimi Räikkönen almost matched him towards the second half of last year. Ricciardo – who also might have made the list – went as far as to say last year that “Seb was lucky” to be at Red Bull when he was. But the quadruple champion, still not even 30, could yet find himself in a Mercedes next year.

At Williams are three people who nearly made the list: managing director Mike O’driscoll; new engineering chief Paddy Lowe, who has steered the Mercedes ship very successfully over the past three years; and a new arrival, Lawrence Stroll, the Canadian billionaire whose son, Lance, is driving for Williams this year. Stroll is directly responsible for the investment of upwards of £40m in the team in the past two years. He is not a shareholder. Yet. But he soon could be, and his influence is likely only to increase.

There are more. But those mentioned here are the people who will do most to shape F1 in the next few years, a period critical to its future success.