Japanese car manufacturer Honda participated in Formula One, as an entrant, constructor and engine supplier between 1964 and 2008. Honda's involvement in F1 began with the 1964 season; their withdrawal in 1968 was precipitated by the death of Honda driver Jo Schlesser during the 1968 French Grand Prix. They returned in 1983 as an engine supplier, a role that ended in 1992. They returned again in 2000, providing engines for British American Racing (BAR). By the end of 2005 they had bought out the BAR team, based at Brackley, United Kingdom, and renamed their new subsidiary as Honda Racing.

It was announced on 5 December 2008 that Honda would be exiting Formula One with immediate effect due to the current economic crisis and were looking to sell their team. On 27 February 2009 it was announced that team principal Ross Brawn had led a management buyout of the Brackley team. The team raced successfully as Brawn GP in 2009, and was subsequently sold to Daimler AG and renamed Mercedes GP for the 2010 season.

Ayrton Senna da Silva (pronounced [aˈiɾtõ ˈsenɐ da ˈsiwvɐ] ( listen); 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver. Senna was a three-time Formula One world champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He died in a crash at Tamburello corner while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and is the most recent driver to die at the wheel of a Formula One car.

Senna began his motorsport career in karting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grands Prix over the next three seasons. In 1988, he joined Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda. Between them, they won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year and Senna his first World Championship. Prost claimed the championship in 1989, and Senna his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, the Williams-Renault combination began to dominate Formula One. Senna nonetheless managed to finish the 1993 season as runner-up, winning five races and negotiating a move to Williams in 1994.

Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959 in Wörgl) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008.

Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship. During this time, he won ten Grands Prix, achieved 48 podiums, 12 poles and 21 fastest laps (two more than his former team-mate, rival and friend Ayrton Senna). With 210 starts he is amongst the most experienced Formula One drivers of all time. He led 33 of the 210 races he competed in and retired from 95 of them. Berger also has the unique distinction of taking Benetton's first and last victories, with eleven years separating them. He is renowned for his sense of humour and aggressive driving style.

Gerhard Berger was born in Wörgl, Austria on 27th August 1959. His father Hans worked in his own truck company with Gerhard later working for his father and before being promoted to a driver. Berger, a multiple race winner in European Formula Three, moved up to Formula One in 1984 driving for the ATS team. He was fortunate to be alive after a serious road accident shortly after entering Formula One. A full season for Arrows followed in 1985, but it was not until joining Benetton-BMW in 1986 that his F1 career took off. Exploiting the exceptional power of the BMW turbo engine coupled with a clever Pirelli tire strategy, Berger won his first Grand Prix in Mexico using the Benetton B186. Berger was also on course for an easy victory at his home race, the 1986 Austrian Grand Prix before being forced into the pits from a comfortable lead with mechanical problems. Berger out-qualified team-mate Teo Fabi 12–4 in 1986. He established himself as a very fast driver in Formula One that year.

Ronald "Ron" Dennis CBE (born 1 June 1947) is the executive chairman of McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group, and is also a significant shareholder in both companies. He was also the team principal of McLaren, the group's Formula One team, until 2009.

Since 1981, Dennis had been the team principal of the McLaren Formula One team, and was instrumental in transforming the outfit into a regular world championship contender. Constructors' and drivers' world championships were won with Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton. Dennis has a "tense" relationship with, and a reported dislike for, former FIA president Max Mosley.

In January 2007, Dennis sold half of his 30 percent shareholding in the McLaren Group to the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company , leaving him with a 15 percent share. In 2009, Dennis, together with co-owners Mansour Ojjeh's TAG Group and the Bahraini Mumtalakat Holding Company, bought back Daimler AG's 40 per cent shareholding in a deal that will be concluded in 2011.

Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from 1977 to 1993.

He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix. Patrese entered 257 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix and started 256 races making him the third most experienced F1 driver in history, after Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. He was runner-up in the 1992 Formula One season and third in 1989 and 1991. He won six Formula One races, with a record gap of over six years between two of these – the 1983 South African Grand Prix and 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.

Patrese was born in Padua, Veneto. He made his debut in 1977 with the Shadow racing team at the Monaco Grand Prix when the team were forced to change drivers due to Renzo Zorzi having financial problems. Later that year team-leader Jackie Oliver left Shadow to form the Arrows team, taking Patrese with him. Shadow took Arrows to court, arguing that the design of the Arrows car was so similar to their own that Arrows had stolen it. The court agreed, forcing Arrows to redesign their car, which they did in just six weeks.