Are McLaren and Penske linked?

[DanB7290]

Just a thought, are McLaren linked to Penske? Think there was a tie up in the 70's (happy to be corrected if it wasn't the case) and they seem to share sponsors i.e. Marlboro sponsored them both at the same time, and now Verizon, who are 45% owned by Vodafone, are sponsoring Penske, and Verizon logos have appeared on the McLarens this weekend. So is there a link between the teams, or is it simply my imagination?

[Gwagon111]

One of their drivers is.

[mchammer89]

McLaren's J-Damper was manufactured by Penske.

[RedexR]

I seem to remember a few joint displays over the years , more down to the sponsor than anything I suspect.

[belleair302]

Yes and no.....there have been a number of technical links between the two and a financial one many decades ago but as of now....nothing serious other than a supply of parts. Roger Penske other than being a hugely successful racing man, business leader and billionaire is somebody many team owners wish to have a relationship with.

[JMC1]

I do not think that there is any link these days, but I believe that Roger Penske is or was a board member of the Phillip Morris (Marlboro etc etc).

[Redlake27]

McLaren do have a subsidiary company, McLaren Marketing, and they may manage the sponsors? (Only a guess?) They did work for Tyrrell in the early 90s (Epson, Honda, Braun, Marlboro support for Ken)

[rlw]

..and via Mercedes who built a trick enging for Penske a while back to take full advantage of the equivalency rules of the time, and Ilmor....

[flemke]

rlw said:

..and via Mercedes who built a trick enging for Penske a while back to take full advantage of the equivalency rules of the time, and Ilmor....

I believe you're thinking about one and the same.
That trick engine in the Penske was badged "Mercedes", but was built by Ilmor. The loophole that allowed it in 1994 was closed for '95. Separately, 1995 was the first year that McLaren used engines badged "Mercedes", although they too were actually Ilmors.

[belleair302]

No hook up today between McLaren Marketing and Penske. The Tyrrell relationship did not go anywhere and was more of an introduction and graphics role than sponsor support.

[anonymous-user]

flemke said:

rlw said:

..and via Mercedes who built a trick enging for Penske a while back to take full advantage of the equivalency rules of the time, and Ilmor....

I believe you're thinking about one and the same.
That trick engine in the Penske was badged "Mercedes", but was built by Ilmor. The loophole that allowed it in 1994 was closed for '95. Separately, 1995 was the first year that McLaren used engines badged "Mercedes", although they too were actually Ilmors.

Yep, basically flemke is right. Roger Penske had a tie in with Illmor, who built the mercedes badged engines that his team used at the time, and as far as i know, he still has that tie in.