Joakim "Jo" Bonnier (31 January 1930 – 11 June 1972) was born into the wealthy Bonnier publishing family in Stockholm. His wealth gave him the means not only to compete as a driver but to fund and manage his own racing operation, which he exercised in two phases of his Formula One career. Between works drives for BRM and Porsche, Bonnier ran his own cars to maintain his presence on the grid and support the Grand Prix programme with equipment suited to his financial resources.
Bonnier's first team venture, the Joakim Bonnier Racing Team, operated in the late 1950s, fielding Maserati machinery in Formula One alongside his work for Scuderia Centro Sud. This arrangement allowed Bonnier to contest races where a factory seat was unavailable, maintaining continuity in his championship programme.
After Porsche withdrew from Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1962 season, Bonnier spent several years with Rob Walker Racing Team, driving Coopers and then Brabhams. In 1966 he reformed his own team under the name Anglo-Suisse Racing Team, which was subsequently renamed Ecurie Bonnier. The reformed team campaigned an old Cooper T86 and later a McLaren as Bonnier's interest in Formula One gradually declined. His last full season as a driver-entrant was 1968, and he made only occasional starts in Formula One after that, competing through to 1971.
By the early 1970s Bonnier had shifted largely to a management role within his team, entering several cars in World Sportscar Championship events while taking a reduced driving role himself. The team participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which Bonnier had contested personally every year from 1957 to 1972. His best result at Le Mans as a competitor came in 1964 when he and Graham Hill finished second overall in a Ferrari 330P entered by Maranello Concessionaires — a result separate from his own team's programme but reflective of his standing as a sports car racer of the first order.
The Ecurie Bonnier operation was one of the smaller private Formula One entrants of the 1960s, distinguished primarily by the involvement of its driver-owner rather than by significant championship results. Bonnier himself was a notable figure in grand prix racing beyond his team activities: he won the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix with BRM, the 1960 Targa Florio, and the 1963 Targa Florio, and he served as chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, the body that championed circuit safety at a time when track fatalities were a regular occurrence. His death came at the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, when his Lola T280 was launched over the Armco barriers after a collision on the Mulsanne straight. The team ceased to function as an entity with his passing.