There have been quiet whispers for months that Ron Dennis might be removed from his position at the head of what is now known as the McLaren Technology Group, the parent company of the McLaren F1 team. There has never been sufficient on-the-record evidence to justify writing a story, but the rumours have swirled nonetheless.
It is clear, if you look at the paperwork, that Dennis does not have control of the business, in terms of shareholdings, owning just 25 percent of the shares and so, logically, if the other owners combine and vote against him, he could be removed from his role, just as Martin Whitmarsh was when Dennis made his comeback after five years away, in January 2014. The deal at the time, so they say, was that Dennis would toughen up McLaren in F1 and would make it more competitive. He would also find backers to buy shares from his partners and retake control of the entire business. That hasn’t happened and it is said that various deadlines have come and gone.
Just to be clear, we are talking only of the racing team and associated companies, not the automobile manufacturing business, which is separate but has most of the same shareholders.
The parties involved, of course, are saying nothing publicly, although the official line is that there is no change planned. But does that mean no change in the future as well?
The question that the McLaren shareholders face is simple and yet complex at the same time. Will separating McLaren from Dennis cause the company any harm, or will it be able to work differently and achieve more success if he is no longer there?
One cannot fault his record of success in the sport, McLaren won seven Constructors’ and 10 Drivers’ Championships during his reign as team principal between 1980 and 2009. Having said that it is quite astonishing to think that the team has not won the Constructors’ title since 1998, although it has been runner-up seven times since then. Dennis is not quite as integral to the team as, for example, Enzo Ferrari was with Ferrari, but the difference is only really the name. Dennis took over McLaren 36 years ago and built it into the empire it is today. It is a remarkable achievement and one which should be recognised as such.
Under Whitmarsh – between 2009 and 2013 – McLaren did not win the World Championship, but the team was at least winning races. The change of engine rules and the switch to Honda meant that it has done little since Whitmarsh departed.
Ron is 70 next year and has always been keen to promote the idea of handing the company on to younger men, but at the moment it seems that this ambition is less acute than once it was.
One way or another things seem to be coming to a head and we will see which way the wind blows.
joeblogsf1 
Joe,
It could also be that having toured the world R.D. has proved to the board there is no buyer out there for McLaren at the price they want. The logical conclusion is head down and press on and build the value to justify the price. Tossing the talent overboard is a Ferrari move, pretty sure that McLaren have a neat binder filed away somewhere with an ISO 9000 series document that says don’t do this. I suspect this will be a rather dull expiring of a contract followed by a new or extended version of the old. Why? Because they need a really good alternative and I don’t see the parties involved wanting to be Ron Dennis on a daily basis. Sure they have management talent in depth. Real depth. But Ron is the essence of the company. I say two more years is the likely outcome.
It’s reasonable he goes.
You’d be crazy not to respect the man for what he’s achieved but beginning with the removal of Whitmarsh and leading to the current position of the race team no one else would of still been there at this point.
No title sponsor
No wins since 2012 (and that includes two years with Mercedes engines)
Price may be too high but he obviously can’t find anyone interested in buying into the team
In the last 4 years they’ve only been on the podium twice and those two podiums came in the same race!
Although Dennis has not been in charge for that whole period things look worse not better. Sad times for McLaren, reminds me of the 10 years pre Schumacher era at Ferrari.
Looks like they’ve got their Schumacher with Vandoorne so hopefully they can also build a winning car again soon.
It’s true, the stats haven’t looked great recently but Honda wouldn’t stick around if McLaren weren’t sound. Let’s be fair, this year has seen real progress – next year will reveal more.
If Honda walked now, they’d lose a lot of face. They HAVE to stick around a bit longer. Probably there’s one of those pesky contract things involved.
Both companies have done extraordinary well in two years to achieve what they have. What did you expect – races wins this year, after only two years?
Whatever happened with a knighthood for Ron? Sure I read something somewhere about why it didn’t happen – not that what one reads about such things is ever 100%. Ever hear anything about it? Perhaps not repeatable.
Hi Joe,
This is difficult to understand. Why would the other owners want to replace Ron Dennis? After all, he’s the one who has built what McLaren is today. He now has the right people in the right positions since Jos Capito has joined the team as CEO (James Allison would also be a great addition). Who would do a better job?
You make a good point about what he has achieved. It unarguable that he has substantially grown the F1 business and the associated business, through his leadership.
But as markets change and as the sport changes, the man who was perfect in one era, isn’t always the man (or woman) for the next. As an executive team and as shareholders, their focus has to be on growth
McLaren is headed in the right direction. I think next year will determine what happens with Ron. If the 2017 car is good, and winning races, then I’m sure he’ll stick around. If it’s not, then everyone at McLaren should be watching their back. Personally, I hope next season is a 4 way race between top teams.
What a shame! Ron Dennis is Mclaren and it’s in his DNA.
Sometimes the character and personality of team owners is more interesting than the drivers.
Doesn’t Ron’s 25% share of the racing team include his sole management discretion? Regarding the team, the outside majority investors ceded management control to Ron as part of their investment? At least this is what was propagated as conventional wisdom.
While Ron’s leadership of the team has been fruitful in the past, as you point out the trophy cupboard has been bereft of anything recent, drivers or constructors.
And while the cemeteries are full of indispensable men, McLaren without Ron
seems unthinkable, especially at the relatively still “young” age of 70.
With Liberty stepping in to purchase the sport, it would seem to be a stabilizing influence that might be enticing to new investors regarding team investors. Here’s hoping Ron can find them and still retain control over the team.
No
Joe, I noticed recently on Companies House that Ron had been registered as controlling 2 new entities this year (I believe Investco1 & investco2 were the names) at the time I assumed this was the beginning of an attempt to get backers to buy out Mansour Ojeh’s 25% and put Ron back on level footing with Mumtalakat. After incorporation, nothing much happened. Can you envisage any situation which would see him stay (others are reporting that he at least stats til year end?)
Yes, Ron Dennis did build McLaren into what it is today. Or more realistically what it was. Almost two decades without a World Championship despite mammoth resources. No title sponsor for years. The buck stops.. where?
Everything has its time and I believe Ron’s has passed. He has lived by the sword ( callous treatment of Whitmarsh, Perez, Button(twice) and Magnussen) and will rightfully will perish by the sword.
Continually astonished that he’s not Sir Ron.
But then the UK government has never given motor racing the recognition it deserves. A cycling gold medal or two these days gets you a knighthood. Multiple F1 titles? Creating thousands of jobs? A CBE if you’re lucky.
Anyone know why?
The Queen thinks Ron is a pretentious bore?
But then she was a mechanic ( WW II training) who rose to the top, so maybe she can relate
What’s the queen got to do with honours?
Methinks Anthony Mars Jenkins was being wry.
She was happy to open McLaren’s new building – and has her name on it..
Well .. in light of recent allegations it seems as though at least a few of those cycling knighthoods might just wind up being be revoked * . Assuming such a thing is possible that is
* From all initial reports it seems y’all [ UK ] might just be on the brink of what we all [ US ] recently went thru when it comes to ” Too Good to Be True ” cyclists . e.g. Sir Bradley … who ?
Ron Dennis isn’t the actual driving/cycling monkey in the saddle, and he didn’t attend the right schools for a businessman did he old boy?
I think it’s a disgrace he’s not Sir Ron already.
One would think “Spygate 2007” has something to do with that.
Ron is a CBE already, which is quite high up the pecking order. Frank Williams has a knighthood and so they do recognise motorsport.
I think Frank William’s knighthood was as much for services to the disabled community as to motorsport.
Joe, I’ve been thinking about this for some time now.
If indeed RD steps down, this could be a good opportunity to co-write his biography. He may have the time to devote to such a project.
There is so much quality material, it would be a fantastic read. From year 1 to just before taking control of McLaren; The McLaren F1 years; From an idea to the architectural masterpiece that MTC is; The other businesses located at MTC; The creation of the road car division and details on the factory design, etc.
Where do I pre-order?
From someone else…
Ouch!
Ron may have a lot of flaws, but his heart is in the right place when it come to McLaren racing.
(On the topic of books, the recent quotes about Niki and Toto from Ross Brawn’s new book look interesting.)
Joe Saward> From someone else…
Hah! 🙂
I’d imagine Matt Bishop would be getting that job, given that apparently Ron personally lured him from F1 Racing to be McLaren’s chief PR man…
Hasn’t Steve Cropley now got that job?
He is often to be seen on TV with an audio recorder lurking behind FA or JB in the pen.
Steve Cropley is not in Formula 1
My mistake.
It sounds like the McLaren board simply have too many people with too many different ideas, which is very rarely a good thing. Removing Ron Dennis when he is not ready to step down is likely a massive mistake — I hope it doesn’t put a damper on their recent progress. When Ron regained control over the racing portion, he had a lot of hurdles to overcome (new regulations, repairing Whitmarsh’s weak effort). To blame him (or even Honda) for the lack of recent success is ridiculous as the closed regulations and lack of testing have been the problem. The factory Mercedes team have been the ONLY real winners during this era. Yes, Ferrari and Red Bull have won races, but in the end it doesn’t matter because they have gotten absolutely demolished in both championships in embarrassing fashion — a handful of race wins is hardly anything to brag about for teams that were once so dominant.
Joe pretty much predicted this in the comments section a couple of months back when we were all discussing Button’s future with the team. I take my hat off to you!
First off .. where are these rumors emanating from ? Certainly they’re all over the Net from F1 and motor sports sites right down to the automotive business news . But other than McLaren F1’s lack of performance why and from whence do these rumors come ? No one seems to have a handle on that .
In as far as Dennis being removed should that happen : Exactly what good could come of it ? The ugly reality is 90% of McLaren F1’s recent failures have been created by the constant prejudice and inconsistent sanctions placed upon them by a very erratic , biased and agenda based FIA not to mention Honda’s inability of late to come up with a reliable and competitive power plant . Not due to anything Ron has or has not done . So other than change for the sake of change which is never a good thing I for one cannot see any positive outcome should a very misguided board chose to remove its iconic figurehead . Doing so would be tantamount to FIAT SpA removing Enzo from the front office back in the day . e.g. In some alternative universe where logic and common sense play no part that might seem logical . But here in the real world it is a recipe for self implosion and disaster . Which begs the question ; Should Dennis find himself on the outside looking in might we be witnessing the beginning of the end of yet another F1 icon ?
The story says it all. The key point is this has been going on for months
Years, really. Ironic that Ojjeh sided with Lisa…
I know it is not exactly the same, but since the majority shareholders of Morgan removed 38% shareholder Charles Morgan. Since then the company has an expanded product range, revenue is up and so I believe are profits.
There is no reason why McLaren couldn’t improve without Ron Dennis.
Hate to say it as a long time McLaren fan but he needs to step away. You only have to watch the way he prowls the garage and seems to be watching over everyone. It’s very hard to work in that environment. Also remember how he said Lewis would need be getting such a good contract prior to him leaving and also said they didn’t need to be Mercedes partner. Not to say he wasn’t prepared to pay Newey what he wanted back in the day. Thanks for the memories but time to pass the mantle. Maybe leave enough room for Ross and James….we can hope.
I thought that Newey’s chief complaints were not about his salary, but about the fact that Ron was not allowing him to reorganise McLaren’s technical team as he saw fit and constraining his choices when it came to choosing personnel.
In addition to the points that you mentioned, Newey was mightily frustrated with McLaren’s practice of rotating the design of each year’s car between two designers; so year1designer would next design year 3 and, year 2 designer would next design yr 4, etc. (This stemmed from McLaren’s practice of often hiring two individuals to fill one position. Now, at RedBull he has complete au-tonomy, including fluidity in his budget
Joe, Any chance that Ross Brawn could be lined up to replace Ron?
Unfinished business with Honda. Level of control he’d surely want within a team (I’m guessing). Drivers that he’s worked with in the past (JB), tried to recruit at a previous team (Alonso in the Honda days, I seem to remember) and amazing potential F1 talent in Vandoorne…….
Sound plausible? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and adding 2+2 and making 17???
No
Ha, ha – fair enough!!
He only attends at most half a dozen races a year and takes a low profile. I spent some time the other weekend with Roger Penske and it was like watching RD.
Would be a bit weird without seeing Ron Dennis in charge Mclaren. I mean the man lives and breathes Mclaren. It would be exactly the similar way the family owners of Guinness were left without control of the family business. Or when Sony bought Disney from the nephew of the ‘extremist eugenics loving anti semitic Walt Disney’.
Anyhow would be freaky thing not having Mclaren and Ron as a pairing.
Is it true that Paddy Lowe may also be out of job soon ?
Not that I’ve heard
Isn’t Jost Capito the new head of the F1 team and Boullier the racing director? Ron’s role should be largely nothing once Capito gets his feet under the desk I’d have thought.
Maybe there’s just took much overlap.
By overlap do you mean with all three? Just my outsiders view but if Capito & Boullier are to have complete control it would be better if Ron stepped back from the F1 team completely. It’s not like he’ll be bored with everything else McLaren are doing – road cars etc.
IF i were a shareholder for the past 36 years i’d be very happy with the results achieved under Ronzo’s leadership. But as it happens with the drivers you’re as good as your last race or last quarterly result. I have no idea what the income statement looks like now at the McLaren Holding, but i bet it’s solid.
That said there’s always a time for departure. Jack Welch is gone, Bill Gates’s gone, R. Branson will day will be history, even the self-claimed billionaire Donaldo Trump will be gone one day. The passing of the torch is necessary and healthy. May Ronzo take showers of gold during his retirement. Any serious businessman like him must have prepared an heir, whether in litigant state with other shareholders or not.
Kudos to all of them at McLaren. They’ve built an empire. Hey, is it safe to say that Bernie helped a lot there too? I wonder what kind of wealth Ronzo would have amassed without Bernie’s management and unmatched business skills.
It is clearly a matter of record that we have, from time to time, seen a few of the owners of McLaren gracing these pages with their trenchant comments. Hence one does not need to waste time wondering about this article’s accuracy, implications as well as its zero hour ramifications.
Undoubtedly, Ron Dennis & McLaren contribution have been far more impactful in the sport than any other team in F1. Notwithstanding McLaren’s drought of winning in the past few years, it continue to be the Crème De La Crème of F1 Teams. Its F1 team is supported by a mid –version of Mission Control. This is the envy of all other teams.
Ron’s a good dealmaker. Maybe not as good as BCE but pretty damn good. Look at the TAG engine deal as an ex able…or way back, the Project 4/McLaren deal. And I don’t think Honda would be back in F1 without him either.
You are, indeed, correct regarding your contention of the impact of Ron’s remarkable deal making prowess. His hands-on approach is responsible for McLaren’s Technology being found in all the major racing formulae in Europe and North America. In doing so, he attended NASCAR and IRL races in order to close those deals. He brilliantly diversified McLaren to shield the organization from any future serious threat to its existence. Serious threats such the type that McLaren and he faced from his old “buddy” during the Spygate Affairs.
Do I detect the hand of Eric Boullier here?
Ron’s best attribute has been to hire the very best people. But also very strong willed people who did not cow to Ron’s rigid control.
Then we had the era of the very best people who cowed to Ron and failed.
Now we just have two of the best drivers and…that’s it.
I agree it made no sense to get second rate engines from manufacturers who also have race teams and Ron has been unlucky that Honda are a shadow of what they were.
But the bare fact remains that McLaren have no hope of winning in the foreseeable future. And that’s not a situation Boullier would tolerate.
No hope of winning? Really? What happens if they have the best engine next year? Silly comment
Ron has never been afraid of hiring strong characters. Ever met Capito????
Perhaps, IMHO, his one mistake was in putting a nice guy, but not as strong a character in charge when he was forced to take a step back. Whitmarsh, nice chap, but …
Oddly enough, I have met Capito. He has been in and around F1 for the last 20-odd years
I was referring to the poster. Jost is a very impressive guy isn’t he, Joe? No nonsense chap who was very good to a friend of mine when he ran VW’s F3 business. A positive move.
Concerning Martin,the Times reported that when the situation aroused Mercedes used its leverage (being the only remaining manufacturer) and threatened both Bernie & Max that if anymore penalties, especially, financial, were imposed on McLaren then they would leave F1.What was unknown was whether Mercedes’ threat provided protection for Ron against his old “buddy.” Due to that uncertainty, the imminent FIA hearings, Ron decided to step down. There was not enough time to consider anyone else but Martin
As per the Times….Martin wanted to show he was the antithesis of Ron. So at the Hearings he appeared disheveled, with head bowed…. Max commented that he was pleased to see the changed in posture and saw no need to consider any penalties.
During his tenure Martin spent a lot of time wining the friendship of the press. But he spent too much time nurturing those friendships. He was very skilled at internal politics; thus won key Board Room decisions against Ron
It is true that McLaren won races under Martin, but has not won since Ron returned. There is a major problem with this comparison. Martin only won with the number one asset he inherited from Ron i.e. Lewis Hamilton. Under his leadership the Team’s number one asset was lost and, has not won since Hamilton left McLaren. So Martin shares some of the blame for McLaren’s drought.
Personally I don’t see this happening. Many of the advantages they held in the 80’s just don’t exist anymore.
Honda moved engine design goalposts on massively during that era but the Europeans won’t be caught out again.
They were teamed with the two best teams of the era Williams and Mclaren and their cars were driven by Senna, Prost, Mansell and Piquet. Some roll call.
The other critical point is that whatever name the Japanese used, Honda or Mugen, their respective record in the years since 1992 make for very poor reading
One assumes based on recurring events in Honda’s history that if and when Honda have the best F1 engine, they’ll offer it in short order to the team with the best chassis. And unless that’s McLaren, then McLaren will get dropped. Just ask Sir Frank.
No Hope of winning is a bit much, but…
With the current engine regs largely unchanged, I would be very surprised to see Mercedes on the wrong foot.
The only real hope the other teams have is that Mercedes will misstep on the Aero side a bit.
Lots of if’s and no one really knows until testing, but the trend is in Mercedes favor.
And I don’t think that the 2017 Aero regs are a significant enough departure from what then teams are already doing.
RedBull and McLaren do have the two best Aerodynamicists, Newey and Prodromou. Thus in 2017 both teams should have the two best chassis in F1. So as long and Honda provide the team with a good and, bullet-proof reliable Engine then McLaren and RedBull should be dueling it out for wins commencing in 2017
Peter Prod is at McLaren
On the subject re McLaren winning soon, I’m hopeful that a way will be found so that Ron will still be directly involved with the F1 side of his Empire. It will be quite sad when the team returns to the winner’s circles next year, as expected, yet Ron might be looking from in from the outside.
However, if this is the end of Ron’s direct involvement in the Team and the teams brethren companies, then one should certainly raise a glass of Pouily Fuiss’ to him for having amassed such an outstanding body of work that is unmatched in motor racing as well as in his other fields’ of endeavour.
His accomplishments certainly places him near or within the league of the top 100 entrepreneurs (of his era) headed by Steve Jobs. Interestingly he may or may not possess some of Steve’s obsessive traits. (Note: I’m in no way saying or implying that Ron suffers from OCD).
John… NO hope? NO hope? A lot is changing over the off-season, Honda are showing much more commitment in terms of manpower and money than when they started this venture. They have a sizeable bank of experience by now.
I think your confidence may be a tad premature.
As they say… predictions are difficult, especially about the future. 😉
I expect one Mr Ross Brawn will be visiting Woking soon for a general discussion. His relationship with Honda is good….he knows Fernando Alonso and Mansour Ojjeh. Could he be tempted back….oh yes if the position is right.
Kudos Mr. Saward for reading the tea leaves long before the story appeared in other sites.
I agree that if Honda make a massive step forward and the chassis is good look out for McLaren next season. With that in mind any possibility that Honda may purchase the shares?
McLaren’s problem (and Ron’s) is that they set ridiculously high standards to follow during F1’s golden era. I have the utmost respect for what Ron achieved, and consider an MBE scant reward. McLaren WILL be back – there’s too much talent and nous there. Hopefully, Ron will be involved. Would love to see him lead them back to the top.
Hi Joe,
is there any money involved in the McLaren & “Innovation is Great” advertising?
No, I think that was a documentary
I never understand how so many teams don’t use the back of the rear wing as advertising.
Hi Joe,
Concerning the comment “The deal at the time, so they say, was that Dennis would toughen up McLaren in F1 and would make it more competitive. He would also find backers to buy shares from his partners and retake control of the entire business”.
Would the share holders have given Ron this mandate or would he have approached them with the offer?
Great blog as always.
Lots of comments and no time to read all…………….
Could the talk of Ron going be connected with Fernando staying.