Where are they now? Autosport magazine’s top 10 drivers from 2005

Any readers of Autosport magazine will know they would rank the year’s best drivers across every racing series, not just F1.

With 20 years having passed since the 2005 season, let’s take a look at where that year’s top 10 drivers are now.

Where are they now? Autosport magazine’s top 10 drivers from the 2005 season

10: Gary Paffett [2005: DTM champion]

Gary Paffett won the 2005 DTM title and would not defend his crown, instead taking up full-time F1 testing duties with McLaren alongside Pedro de la Rosa.

He had been looking to find his way onto the Formula 1 grid in the years that followed, but remained among McLaren’s test roster for a significant period of time while he returned and competed in DTM before taking up a simulator role with Williams in 2016.

He would go on to win another DTM title in 2018, in his final season in the series, before taking in the 2018-19 campaign in Formula E with Mercedes.

After that season, Paffett moved into a sporting and technical advisory role with the team, alongside acting as reserve driver.

Today, Paffett remains in the Formula E paddock as team manager of McLaren’s squad, alongside being sporting director of McLaren’s Extreme E outfit.

9: Andy Priaulx [2005: World Touring Car champion]

Andy Priaulx entered the World Touring Car Championship as the reigning European Touring Car champion, but the step up did not seem to faze him as he took World title glory at the first time of asking.

Two more WTCC titles would follow in consecutive seasons as part of an eclectic motorsport career that has seen Priaulx race in Australia in V8 Supercars, in the American Le Mans Series, at Le Mans itself on a host of occasions – finishing P2 in the LMGTE Pro class in 2017, and racing as recently as 2024 in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

He remains committed to charity fundraising as co-founder of the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation and continues to race in current and historic cars – having piloted the Aston Martin Valkyrie at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, alongside taking part in the Goodwood Revival and Silverstone Festival.

8: Petter Solberg [2005: WRC runner up]

Winner of three rallies in the WRC in 2005, 2003 champion Petter Solberg was up against it when it came to the eventual winner (more on him later), but drove exceptionally well in 2005 to be his nearest challenger, finishing level on points with Marcus Gronholm.

He continued in WRC before eventually moving to the newly-formed World Rallycross Championship, winning the first two titles in 2014 and ’15 as an FIA series.

Solberg retired from motorsport full-time in 2018, but continues to follow his son Oliver’s career with the pair having teamed up for victory at the popular Race of Champions in 2022.

Solberg was at the Australian Grand Prix in March 2025 to watch the action, alongside rooting for McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne, who was previously awarded the Petter Solberg Scholarship with a fund to help his racing career, equivalent to around €13,000.

7: Jenson Button [2005: 9th, F1]

Jenson Button’s star was rising in Formula 1 in his time with BAR, to an extent where media impatience was growing around when he would earn his first victory at the top level, particularly in Britain.

Two podiums were the sum of his efforts in 2005 after a breakthrough 2004 campaign, and he would finally break his win duck at the 113th time of asking at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

As for his later career, he would go on to win the 2009 World Championship in the most unlikely of underdog stories with Brawn GP, before a lengthy stint with McLaren for the remainder of his days in Formula 1.

Seeing himself as a ‘racing driver’ rather than simply a ‘Formula 1 driver’, Button has since continued to compete, winning the Japanese Super GT title in 2018, alongside one-off entries in NASCAR, British GT, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018 before returning to racing full-time in 2024, joining the burgeoning Hypercar field in the World Endurance Championship with Hertz Team Jota.

He has also been a pundit for Sky Sports F1, alongside taking in ambassadorial work for his first Formula 1 team, Williams.

6: Juan Pablo Montoya [2005: 4th, F1]

A shoulder injury ruled Juan Pablo Montoya out of two early rounds in 2005, but by the time the second half of the season came around he was back to his best in what was a thrilling McLaren lineup.

He took three victories before the season was out in 2005, but his career saw him take in spells in IndyCar, NASCAR, IMSA and more – with his two wins in the Indianapolis 500 alongside a Monaco Grand Prix victory meaning Montoya holds two of the three legs of motorsport’s Triple Crown, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans being the other.

Winner of the IMSA title as recently as 2019, Montoya continues to offer his opinions on Formula 1 in a variety of punditry roles, while having continued racing in NASCAR, IndyCar and LMP2 machines in each of the last three seasons.

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5: Michael Schumacher [2005: 3rd, F1]

2005 would be the end of the empire for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, with a combination of regulation changes to end one-team domination in Formula 1, the sport’s ‘tyre wars’ seemingly being won by Michelin and a simply less competitive package than before all combining to allow a new generation to compete at the front.

Schumi still put up as much of a fight as he could, though, taking his one victory that year at the infamous six-car race in Indianapolis and scoring 62 points compared to 38 for Rubens Barrichello.

As for his current wellbeing, any casual motorsport fan will be aware by now that after a life-threatening 2013 skiing accident, the seven-time World Champion has not been seen in public and news of his exact condition has been kept a closely-guarded secret by his family.

In February 2025, three people were convicted of blackmail against the Schumacher family in which they threatened to release private photos and videos of the former Ferrari driver online if they were not paid €15m. Yilmaz Tozturkan, the plot’s ringleader, was sentenced to three years in prison as a result.

4: Dan Wheldon [2005: IndyCar champion]

Autosport’s British Competition Driver of the Year in 2005, Dan Wheldon completed the double of not just winning the IndyCar series title, but also taking victory at the coveted Indianapolis 500 – becoming the first Briton since Graham Hill in 1966 to cross the yard of bricks first.

He raced on in IndyCar, winning another Indy 500 in 2011 before a huge accident in Las Vegas led to his tragic death at the age of just 33.

Wheldon was one of 15 drivers involved in a mass accident, with his car launched towards catch fencing and the Briton having been confirmed as dying of “blunt trauma” to his head in an extremely sad moment for the world of motorsport.

3: Kimi Räikkönen [2005: F1 runner-up]

The Iceman took in one of his greatest victories in 2005, and one of Formula 1’s most memorable, when he raced through the field to win in Suzuka, but ultimately it was not enough to secure him a first World Championship.

Taking seven race victories in all, he was the nearest challenger to the eventual title-winner that season, but he would eventually earn the title his talent deserved in 2007.

He continued a long career in Formula 1 either side of a sabbatical in rallying before retiring at the end of 2021, in true Kimi style, without too much fuss.

Now he is raising his young family while also helping his son, Robin, navigate the world of karting at the earliest stages of his career.

2: Fernando Alonso [2005: F1 World Champion]

Two decades on from his first Formula 1 World Championship title, Fernando Alonso races on at the top level and still looks as sharp as ever.

He is contracted to Aston Martin until the end of 2026, and has hinted this current deal will be his last in Formula 1, but do not rule anything out with Alonso.

The Spanish driver duelled with Raikkonen for glory and ultimately emerged victorious in his Renault in 2005, adding another crown in 2006 before going close again in 2007, 2010 and 2012.

But for twists of fate in all three seasons, it’s eminently possible we could be talking about him as a five-time World Champion.

Add attempts at the Indy 500 and glory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans into the mix, even a shot at the Dakar Rally, and Alonso has forged his own path in motorsport. He’s not done yet.

1: Sébastien Loeb [2005: World Rally Champion]

Rallying’s version of the GOAT [greatest of all time] debate will almost certainly have Sébastien Loeb at the forefront of discussions and 2005 was the second of his nine consecutive titles in the WRC.

He won the 2005 title in crushing fashion, too, with 10 rally victories out of 15 in all for Citroen, three further podiums, one P4 finish and just one retirement.

As for the rest of his career at the top level, he sits on the most WRC titles of anyone, most rally victories and a whopping total of 939 stage wins.

Since then, he has dabbled in series across the motorsport spectrum, finishing runner-up three times in the gruelling Dakar Rally – the most recent of which in 2023 – taken race victories in World Touring Cars and the World Rallycross Championship, while he also took the Extreme E title for Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Racing in 2022, driving alongside Cristina Gutiérrez.

He had looked for a move to Formula 1 in the late 2000s but was not granted an FIA Super Licence, while he has also been a regular at the Race of Champions – taking part in the 2025 edition of the event and winning the whole thing, becoming the first driver to win the Race of Champions and Nations Cup (alongside Victor Martins) in the same year.

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