David Richards (motorsport executive)

David Richards has been since 2002 the Team Principle for the BAR Honda Formula 1 motor racing team. Richards came to Formula 1 after a successful career in the Touring Car and Rally Car competitions for the Jaguar Ford group. The team was particularly dominant in the Le Mans endurance race. In 2000 Richards was put in charge of the re-launch of the Stewart-Ford Formula 1 team as Jaguar with the promise that the team would be challenging for the Driver and Constructor titles in the first two years of competition. However the team was grossly underfunded by Formula 1 standards and after two years of indifferent results with an unreliable car Richards was being edged out by the Ford management. Fortunately for Richards the BAR team was restructuring after the departure of Craig Pollock. Under Richards direction there has been a huge improvement in BAR with the team securing second place in the 2004 Constructor Championship ahead of arch rivals Renault. Richards also brought Jenson Button to the team and made him lead driver providing the majority of their championship points in 2004.

David Richards is also a major figure in the complex politics of Formula 1 Management and is an advocate for measures to reduce the costs of car development as well as increasing race safety.