The saga between Ron Dennis and McLaren seems to finally be coming to an end. In what can be seen as the final nail in the coffin, the former chief executive has sold his shares in McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive.
In a deal reportedly worth $362m (£275m), Dennis has sold his 25 per cent stake to Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain-based sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat. Dennis’ 37-year tenure has now officially come to an end. With his departure, the two arms of McLaren — the Technology Group and Automotive — will combine to form a new structure.
This appears to be the final chapter in a story of disparagement. Dennis was put on leave following a long legal battle with his fellow shareholders. The 70 year old now works in the British Ministry of Defence. He is part of the Innovation Advisory Panel, a team that devises new technologies for defence activities.
Ron Dennis was one of the most successful figures in Formula One. Dubbed, “Mr. McLaren” Dennis brought ten Drivers and seven Constructors titles to the McLaren team between 1981 and 2009. This would be the last season McLaren would win a race with Ron Dennis in the team.
Lewis Hamilton can credit his arrival in Formula One to Ron Dennis. At the age of ten, Hamilton told Dennis that he would one day drive for the McLaren team. Three years later, Lewis was signed to the McLaren young driver programme. After making his way up through various feeder series, Hamilton was signed to McLaren in 2007 and reunited with Dennis. He went on to win his first World Title with McLaren in 2008.
Forever outspoken, his part in the “Spygate” scandal of 2007 somewhat tarnished his reputation. The McLaren team was fined $100m for allegedly being passed technical information from Ferrari. Dennis later stepped down from his position as team principal.
However, he returned in 2014 as CEO to oversee a restructure of management at McLaren. Later, he stepped down again after a bitter dispute with the aforementioned Mansour Ojjeh and Mumtalakat.
With Ron Dennis at the helm, McLaren endured its most successful period in F1 history. Drivers like Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda all won titles under Dennis.
In modern times, it’s a different story: no race wins since 2012 and no podiums since 2014. McLaren is enduring the least successful period in its history. Its move to Honda engine power in 2015 was a disastrous decision. Simply completing a race distance is a challenge for the once successful team.
Since 2015, McLaren has scored just 105 Constructors Points. In the 2012 season alone, the team scored 378. This year, McLaren remained pointless for the first seven races of the season. The team finally netted two points at the unpredictable Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Has the lack of a Ron Dennis-like figure spelled disaster for McLaren? Not likely. Whispers of a switch back to Mercedes power for 2018 could reignite the glory days the team enjoyed when Dennis was commanding the ship.
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