Where are they now? The nine other team bosses in Horner’s debut season

Christian Horner left his role as Red Bull team principal in a surprise announcement, following 20 years at the helm of the team.

A lot has changed in Formula 1 in that time, not least those in charge of the teams (for the most part), so let’s take a look at who else was leading each team when Red Bull first took to the grid, and Horner was only 31.

Where are they now? Christian Horner’s rival team bosses from the F1 2005 season

Flavio Briatore – Renault

Flavio Briatore is the only person on this list still actively on the grid in Formula 1, but he had to serve a long time away from the sport following the 2008 ‘Crashgate’ scandal, when Nelson Piquet Jr was found to have been instructed to crash at the Singapore Grand Prix to benefit his team-mate, Fernando Alonso.

Briatore was overseeing Renault’s World Championship win with Alonso in 2005, but was ushered out of the sport in the wake of ‘Crashgate’ when the Italian was handed an indefinite ban from FIA-sanctioned events – which was subsequently overturned by a French court.

While he remained in touch with the paddock through his capacity as Alonso’s manager, it was only in May 2024 that he made a formal return to Formula 1 as Alpine’s executive advisor.

It’s a role he holds to this day, acting as the de facto team boss with new managing director, Steve Nielsen, set to report to Briatore when he joins in September 2025.

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Ron Dennis – McLaren

One of the longest-serving team principals in Formula 1 history, Ron Dennis was in charge of McLaren between 1981 and 2009.

He founded McLaren Automotive in 2010, expanding the brand’s presence on the road, but returned to the Formula 1 paddock in 2014, to take charge of McLaren once again.

He left Formula 1 and his role with McLaren in 2017, before taking on a role with the UK Government as a co-chair of the Defence Innovation Advisory Panel for the Ministry of Defence, which he held for two years.

Dennis continues to hold business interests away from Formula 1, and founded a charity, Dreamchasing, in 2007.

Jean Todt – Ferrari

Jean Todt was at the helm as Ferrari dominated the early 2000s, but 2005 marked the year the team’s run of success was halted by Renault.

Todt eventually left his post in 2007, but remained as CEO and special advisor to the Scuderia for two further years before turning to the governance side of the industry, becoming FIA President in 2009.

With a particular focus on road safety, the Frenchman served three four-year terms at the top of world motorsport, before stepping back in 2021.

Today, he spends time working with multiple charities, and continues in the capacity of the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Road Safety, a role he has held since 2015.

Tsutomu Tomita – Toyota

Tsutomu Tomita was Toyota’s team principal from the start of the 2004 season, having formerly been chairman of the marque’s motorsport arm, Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Tomita left Formula 1 in 2007 to take on the role of chairman of the Fuji Speedway, which was about to hold its first Japanese Grand Prix in over three decades.

The circuit, which has been owned by Toyota since 2000, played host to two Japanese Grands Prix in 2007 and 2008, and still features on the calendar of the World Endurance Championship to this day.

Toyota left Formula 1 in 2009, with the brand going on to achieve immense success in the World Endurance Championship.

At 81, Tomita is still listed as being Fuji Speedway’s president and director as of 2025, retaining a place on the board.

Frank Williams – Williams

Sir Frank Williams was at the helm of the team he founded for over four decades, remaining in an operational capacity until 2012, when he stepped down from the board.

At that point, he began gradually handing day-to-day duties to his daughter Claire, who was deputy team principal at the time, though he remained with the team in the capacity of team principal.

One of the most successful team bosses in the history of Formula 1, with 16 World Championships and 114 race victories amassed under his leadership, the Williams team was bought by US investment firm, Dorilton Capital, in 2020, though it still operates under the Williams name to this day.

The team’s founder died, aged 79, in 2021.

Nick Fry – BAR Honda

Nick Fry had a long association with the Brackley-based Formula 1 team, serving as team principal in the BAR days.

After Honda withdrew from Formula 1 at short notice, he remained with the team as CEO when it transitioned to Brawn GP in 2009, the squad sensationally taking the title that year.

Fry continued in the CEO role after Mercedes took over in 2010, carrying on with the team until 2013.

He then took on the role of chairman and head of commercial strategy at professional esports organisation, Fnatic, in 2018, before joining McLaren’s Applied division as non-executive chairman in 2021.

Fry appeared on camera in Keanu Reeves’ Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story docuseries in 2023, describing one of the sport’s most remarkable underdog stories.

Peter Sauber – Sauber

2025 marks the final year the Sauber name will be on the grid in Formula 1, before its transition to Audi in 2026.

Peter Sauber was at the helm of the eponymous team for decades, holding a minority shareholding in the BMW Sauber outfit when the German marque entered Formula 1, before bringing the team back into his hands again for 2009.

Sauber sold the team in 2016 to Swiss investment firm Longbow Finance, with that coinciding with his retirement from motorsport.

He has been seen sporadically in the Formula 1 paddock since, having attended the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in his capacity as the team’s founder.

Eddie Jordan – Jordan

2005 was the last season that Eddie Jordan’s eponymous Jordan team was on the Formula 1 grid, with the Silverstone team today operating in an expanded capacity as Aston Martin.

After leaving the sport, Jordan was back in the paddock by 2009 and became a popular pundit in Formula 1 for the BBC, following the sport’s free-to-air coverage to Channel 4 in 2016.

Known for his forthright opinions, Jordan was also the first person to reveal Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Mercedes ahead of the 2013 season, and began the successful Formula For Success podcast with former McLaren and Red Bull driver, David Coulthard.

In March 2025, Jordan passed away shortly after a cancer diagnosis, aged 76. His death was mourned across the Formula 1 paddock, with the Aston Martin team carrying a memorial in his name at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Paul Stoddart – Minardi

Having taken over at Minardi in 2001, Paul Stoddart stayed with the team until its sale to Red Bull for the 2006 season, when the team would be rebranded as Toro Rosso.

Taking the Minardi name to ChampCar, Stoddart oversaw a short stint as Minardi Team USA competed in the series, opting to leave when ChampCar was absorbed by the rival Indy Racing League.

In the present day, long-time businessman Stoddart remains listed as a director of European Aviation and other business ventures, with the charter airline having been set up in the late 1980s.

Stoddart has recounted his tales from his time in Formula 1 in recent years, appearing on the Beyond the Grid podcast in 2023 to describe his time as team principal.

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