RE: Ron Dennis steps down from McLaren
Tuesday 15th November 2016
Ron Dennis is a name inextricably linked with McLaren's success both on road and on the F1 grid. He's been part of McLaren since 1981, after all. Today, however, it has been announced that McLaren's shareholders have placed him on gardening leave and that he has been 'required to relinquish' his Chief Executive and Chairman roles in the McLaren Technology Group.
The dream team!While the first details are only now emerging, it sounds far from an amicable split. The BBC was reporting discontent at Dennis's "autocratic" style, with a falling out between him and Mansour Ojjeh - who also owns 25 per cent of the McLaren Group - placing the Frenchman on the side of the Bahraini Mumtalakat investment fund, which owns the other 50 per cent. Certainly Dennis's statement leaves little doubt as to his opinion: "I am disappointed that the representatives of TAG and Mumtalakat, the other main shareholders in McLaren, have forced through this decision to place me on gardening leave, despite the strong warnings from the rest of the management team about the potential consequences of their actions on the business."
Ron Dennis steps down from McLaren
Ron 'required to relinquish' Chief Executive and Chairman roles at Technology Group; remains on the board
The dream team!
On the issues around his management style, Dennis said that this justification was "spurious". He continued by saying "my management style is the same as it has always been and is one that has enabled McLaren to become an automotive and technology group that has won 20 Formula One world championships." Of course the counter argument to that would now be that the last of those world championships was in 2008, a long time in F1 terms. He went on to say that "it has become clear to me through this process that neither TAG nor Mumtalakat share my vision for McLaren", which sounds like a very awkward stalemate.
Plainly there's a lot more to be established here - note he will remain on the board for both the Technology Group and Automotive - but it sounds like a very significant change is coming at McLaren .As for Ron Dennis, his statement concluded by saying that "I intend to launch a new technology investment fund once my contractual commitments with McLaren expire." Expect more details soon.
Discussion
After two absolutely abysmal seasons in F1 without a major sponsor, after sacking the previous Team Principle Martin Whitmarsh, it's anybodies fault except Dennis then?
McLaren could end up with two rookie drivers next season at this rate as Alonso is making his feelings quite plain, even if he isn't saying anything to the media.
Jenson I expect is going to make up for lost time away from Formula One and will get plenty of offers to race in different series or even present.
McLaren could end up with two rookie drivers next season at this rate as Alonso is making his feelings quite plain, even if he isn't saying anything to the media.
Jenson I expect is going to make up for lost time away from Formula One and will get plenty of offers to race in different series or even present.
Ignoring what Ron has done in a political sense, as a car nut I think this is potentially horrifying for McLaren. Ron's absolute fastidiousness and attention to detail is what has made McLaren what it is, and it is clear to see in their cars. The company being taken over by someone who is more interested in short term shareholder value, and growth, will lead the company in a very different direction. It'll likely mean less of things like the 675LT, and more branding and marketing adventures.
Ferrari toe a very narrow line in some ways, these days they're largely a fashion brand for many people, but survive as a legitimate purveyor of some of the finest machinery in the world because they continue to pump out absolutely incredible cars despite that not really being a "growth" area for them. I certainly hope McLaren doesn't change much, but without someone like Ron at the helm, I worry that it will.
Ferrari toe a very narrow line in some ways, these days they're largely a fashion brand for many people, but survive as a legitimate purveyor of some of the finest machinery in the world because they continue to pump out absolutely incredible cars despite that not really being a "growth" area for them. I certainly hope McLaren doesn't change much, but without someone like Ron at the helm, I worry that it will.
Ther rot started with their £100m fine for, well being Mclaren. How mnay potential sponsors became wary after this and hooked up with sqeaky clean Ferrari or up-and-coming and in no way dodgy Redbull??
They they graciously let a tiny team, the remains of the disasterous Honda team and sure-fire back markers "Brawn" use their engines, who then went onto win the WDC, then took over as Mercedes factory team and Mclaren had to be a customer of their engines.
Fast forward to accepting a Honda engine (would love to know what the problems really are: political? Honda management?? Dennis???) and struggling to qualify sometimes. The results do not match the budget. Shame. Williams have never really recovered from their domiant position in the 90s, when Renault left
They they graciously let a tiny team, the remains of the disasterous Honda team and sure-fire back markers "Brawn" use their engines, who then went onto win the WDC, then took over as Mercedes factory team and Mclaren had to be a customer of their engines.
Fast forward to accepting a Honda engine (would love to know what the problems really are: political? Honda management?? Dennis???) and struggling to qualify sometimes. The results do not match the budget. Shame. Williams have never really recovered from their domiant position in the 90s, when Renault left
Ronzo is perhaps a hard man to like (from his public image- that's my only perspective)but an easy man to admire . His achievements are almost peerless and for things to end like this is a tragedy - in the classical sense of a great man's downfall through a fatal flaw of character.
Couldn't have seen it happening to Enzo or Colin Chapman, despite , for example, the 73 season (Ferrari )and 76 season (Lotus ) . And it does seem glib to condemn the man because, essentially , Honda's engine hasn't been great.
Couldn't have seen it happening to Enzo or Colin Chapman, despite , for example, the 73 season (Ferrari )and 76 season (Lotus ) . And it does seem glib to condemn the man because, essentially , Honda's engine hasn't been great.
I read rumours of an unofficial approach from Apple , rumoured to buy out McLaren. So one might then guess from that, if true, that Ron doesn't want to sell out, and the other two share holders do. Apples interest being autonomous cars.
Might be rubbish, but McLarens fortunes could go either way in this instance. Who can tell? Major sponsor effectively, or, major drain on resources? I can't see Apple share holders tollerating the destruction of a major Marque like McLaren persoanlly.
Maybe it's a fear of the unknown for Ron. Or maybe I'm well off the mark. Lol
Might be rubbish, but McLarens fortunes could go either way in this instance. Who can tell? Major sponsor effectively, or, major drain on resources? I can't see Apple share holders tollerating the destruction of a major Marque like McLaren persoanlly.
Maybe it's a fear of the unknown for Ron. Or maybe I'm well off the mark. Lol
chrisgixer said:
I read rumours of an unofficial approach from Apple , rumoured to buy out McLaren. So one might then guess from that, if true, that Ron doesn't want to sell out, and the other two share holders do. Apples interest being autonomous cars.
Might be rubbish, but McLarens fortunes could go either way in this instance. Who can tell? Major sponsor effectively, or, major drain on resources? I can't see Apple share holders tollerating the destruction of a major Marque like McLaren persoanlly.
Maybe it's a fear of the unknown for Ron. Or maybe I'm well off the mark. Lol
Or maybe with a potential decrease in share price due to the news, Apple could buy they anyway with the spare change they have down the back of the sofa.Might be rubbish, but McLarens fortunes could go either way in this instance. Who can tell? Major sponsor effectively, or, major drain on resources? I can't see Apple share holders tollerating the destruction of a major Marque like McLaren persoanlly.
Maybe it's a fear of the unknown for Ron. Or maybe I'm well off the mark. Lol
I'm sure I read he tried to buy the others out using Chinese investment fund. I think he wanted to do this on the back of the interest from Apple. Can you imagine a fully automated Apple car design and built by Mclaren. This could have been Ron's vision. It would certainly make commercial sense to have the funds of Apple available.
It maybe that the board members don't share this thought and use the flagging F1 presence as justifiable reasoning for the shove.
....Or that they do see the potential in a apple deal and its actually Ron that doesn't want it. Wanting to keep the brand pure race car.
Either way, Time will tell I guess.
Total guess work by the way, for all I know they fell out over who had the better parking space at the factory.
It maybe that the board members don't share this thought and use the flagging F1 presence as justifiable reasoning for the shove.
....Or that they do see the potential in a apple deal and its actually Ron that doesn't want it. Wanting to keep the brand pure race car.
Either way, Time will tell I guess.
Total guess work by the way, for all I know they fell out over who had the better parking space at the factory.
Wkotuning said:
I'm sure I read he tried to buy the others out using Chinese investment fund. I think he wanted to do this on the back of the interest from Apple. Can you imagine a fully automated Apple car design and built by Mclaren. This could have been Ron's vision. It would certainly make commercial sense to have the funds of Apple available.
By all accounts Apple have realised (like Google) that computer companies don't make very good car companies. Even Tesla have realised you can't call cruise control 'Autopilot' and not expect trouble.Autonomous cars will be a dream for years to come. The interesting stuff is in power trains for now and McLaren don't need Apple to do that.
I have to say as a Ferrari fan, that I really admire what Ron achieved. Look at the tech centre, and the road car business. I guess a question would be "is that what he should have been focusing on, with an F1 team to run"?
Hard to know the answer to that given the resources at his disposal. But I will say this; he got these two outcomes, and still managed to get a team to the grid, and attract some heavy hitting drivers, who wouldn't have come, presumably, if they didn't believe in the team. Alonso was at Ferrari with big money being thrown at him. If he was only interested in money, he could have stayed put, so there must have been more going on, and his decision to jump into a team that had previously been "difficult", must have been overcome by some compelling arguments.
I do feel sad about him leaving, and wish there was a way for him to continue.
Maybe this is a silly question, but does anyone know why McLaren didn't build their own engines (besides the cost)? They could have got engines from Ricardo, and done some kind of technology transfer into their own road cars, so might have been able to justify some of the expense and amortise it in a way that could justify that route, but really curious if anyone knows the real details.
Hard to know the answer to that given the resources at his disposal. But I will say this; he got these two outcomes, and still managed to get a team to the grid, and attract some heavy hitting drivers, who wouldn't have come, presumably, if they didn't believe in the team. Alonso was at Ferrari with big money being thrown at him. If he was only interested in money, he could have stayed put, so there must have been more going on, and his decision to jump into a team that had previously been "difficult", must have been overcome by some compelling arguments.
I do feel sad about him leaving, and wish there was a way for him to continue.
Maybe this is a silly question, but does anyone know why McLaren didn't build their own engines (besides the cost)? They could have got engines from Ricardo, and done some kind of technology transfer into their own road cars, so might have been able to justify some of the expense and amortise it in a way that could justify that route, but really curious if anyone knows the real details.
I have said recently that I wanted Ron out. Generally many of comments about Ron originating from outside the McLaren team (and occasionally within it!) carry a negative undertone about his management style.
However this coup seems a little undignified and not befitting of Ron's contributions and acheivements with the team.
Frustratingly McLaren will enjoy a much better season next year, and I will cringe when I hear the F1 team's new front man boasting that he has 'turned the team around'...
However this coup seems a little undignified and not befitting of Ron's contributions and acheivements with the team.
Frustratingly McLaren will enjoy a much better season next year, and I will cringe when I hear the F1 team's new front man boasting that he has 'turned the team around'...
What a career he has had but has finally paid the price for the disasterous transition from Merc to Honda. Especially as he has basically wasted two years of both his F1 drivers. I would guess he promised them much too much.
No doubt he will pop up somewhere else. It will be interesting to see where.
No doubt he will pop up somewhere else. It will be interesting to see where.
Ron's main argument for jumping into bed with Honda was that, unlike Renault, Mercedes-Benz would never allow one of their engine customers to beat the factory team.
He was probably spot on about this, but he went with Honda too early, and they were hopelessly under-prepared and nowhere near ready to compete. Ultimately, this mistake has cost him his job, and it's sad to see one of the founding fathers of F1 leave the sport in such circumstances.
He was probably spot on about this, but he went with Honda too early, and they were hopelessly under-prepared and nowhere near ready to compete. Ultimately, this mistake has cost him his job, and it's sad to see one of the founding fathers of F1 leave the sport in such circumstances.
If you look at what McLaren was when he started & what it is now (and how so many others fell by the wayside along the way) then this is lunacy IMO. He's Ron Dennis for crying out loud, he's forgotten more about McLaren & F1 than Ojeh or the Bahrainis will ever know. Ojeh has never been involved in the day to day running of it AFAIK.
At a personal level he must be absolutely gutted to have his business (because really, it isn't anyone else's) taken away from him like this.
As to knifing Whitmarsh, yes he did, but Whitmarsh failed absolutely & was, at the end of the day, an employee. McLaren Automotive is going really well & the F1 team is clearly making progress. If this had anything to do with his performance as a manager they would wait till it becomes clear how good next year's car will be.
This has nothing to do with his performance.
At a personal level he must be absolutely gutted to have his business (because really, it isn't anyone else's) taken away from him like this.
As to knifing Whitmarsh, yes he did, but Whitmarsh failed absolutely & was, at the end of the day, an employee. McLaren Automotive is going really well & the F1 team is clearly making progress. If this had anything to do with his performance as a manager they would wait till it becomes clear how good next year's car will be.
This has nothing to do with his performance.
Edited by Wombat3 on Wednesday 16th November 15:49
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff