Ron Dennis has left his role as chairman and chief executive of the McLaren Group after a long-running spat with his fellow majority shareholders.
The Englishman, 69, departed on Tuesday after 35 years at the helm of McLaren - although he will remain on the boards of McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive and retain significant shareholdings in both companies.
Dennis was forced to relinquish his position amid mounting pressure from McLaren shareholders who questioned his leadership style and aspirations for the future of the business. He will now be placed on gardening leave until his current contract expires in January.
Dennis and his long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh both own 25 per cent of McLaren Group, while Bahrain's Mumtalakat investment fund owns the remaining half. However, he and Ojjeh, the chief executive of the TAG Group, fell out some time ago, with the latter siding with the Bahraini owners in a bid to oust Dennis from his role.
"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," Dennis said in a statement.
"The grounds they have stated are entirely spurious; 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 and grown into an UK£850 million a year business."
Dennis’ departure has been described as the end of an era for McLaren’s Formula One programme. Dennis joined the Woking, UK-based team in 1980, purchased it a year later and served as team principal between 1981 and 2009, leading them to 158 grand prix wins, ten driver’s championships and seven constructors' titles.
However, the team’s performances have nosedived in recent years. Their last driver’s crown came with Lewis Hamilton in 2008 while 2015, their first year with engine manufacturer Honda, was the worst season in their history.
Besides disappointing on-track performances, McLaren’s shareholders were also said to be unhappy with Dennis’ apparent inability to find a title sponsor to replace Vodafone, which left at the end of 2013.
American Zak Brown, a prominent figure in F1 circles who has been linked with a senior role under the sport’s new owners, Liberty Media, is being touted as Dennis’ most likely successor. Brown announced in September that he would be stepping down as group chief executive of CSM Sport & Entertainment at the end of the year.
Commenting on Tuesday, Dennis said he plans to launch a new technology investment fund once his contractual commitments with McLaren expire.
"This will capitalise on my expertise, my financial resources, together with external investment to pursue the many commercial opportunities I have been offered in recent years but have been unable to take up while being so committed to the existing business,” he said.
