driving for the then Prodrive-run BAR team at the
US Grand Prix at
Indianapolis in 2003 Richards became chief executive of
Benetton Formula in , replacing
Flavio Briatore. When the
British American Racing (BAR) team was restructuring after the departure of
Craig Pollock in 2001, the owners,
British American Tobacco (BAT), brought in Prodrive to run the team with Richards as its team principal. Under his direction there was an immediate improvement in performance, ultimately leading to the team taking second place in the 2004 F1 Constructors' Championship. Richards also brought
Jenson Button to the team and made him lead driver, providing the majority of their championship points in 2004. This success led to BAT selling a 45% share of the team to
Honda in late 2004. With Prodrive having completed its management contract with BAT, Richards stood down as team principal and Prodrive's then managing director
Nick Fry assumed this role. His Prodrive company entered a bid to enter a Formula One team for the 2008 season and on 28 April 2006, Prodrive were officially granted entry when the
FIA announced the list of entrants to the
2008 Formula One World Championship. However, on 22 November 2007, he was forced to announce that Prodrive F1 would not be competing in the 2008 Formula One World Championship after a lack of clarity over the legality of 'customer cars' and the threat of possible legal action. ==Aston Martin==