There was a time when Ron Dennis would prefer to set the McLaren Technical Centre on fire with himself inside chained to a MP4/4 rather than being ousted from his own corporation but maybe the monster he has created is too big and is out of control. When shareholders come into the play these things often happen. Personally I just think that it won´t happen and that this year´s silly season is being extremely silly.
+1 Makes no sense whatsoever. Further, doesn't he still own 50%? (That possibly in conjunction with his long time buddy Mansour Ojjeh.) In addition, why would anyone possibly think dear old Berger would be any kind of improvement? As everyone knows, I'm not much of a fan of Uncle Ron, but it's his life's work and he's far more dedicated to seeing it return to 'greatness' than any hired gun. Unless, and I very much doubt this, he's somehow managed to piss off the Mumtalakat (sp?) guys in some way. Very doubtful IMO. Cheers, Ian
Like him or not, Ron done very well for himself IMO, personally I like him, besides we have a nemesis in common
Austrians in Formula 1: Mateschitz, Helmut Marko, Niki Lauda, Toto Wolff and now Berger? Must be the water.
what actually is Ron Dennis' ownership percentage in McLaren these days? I think it may be well below 50%
I read it was 25%, with 25% with Ojeh and the rest in the hands of Middle East investors. Ojeh is in poor health, apparently and may relinquish his shares. Dennis tries to find buyers for them, to prevent the Middle East investors to have a complete majority. I read this, and it may not reflect the reality.
I would love this to be true and if the way Dennis has handled finding sponsors for the f1 team is anything to go by, in a month or so I see Honda take full ownership of mclaren
You're joking, right? I guess they could. Then they'd get cold feet again and sell it back to Ron for a buck. Oh, wait...... Cheers, Ian
I don't see that as an advantage to McLaren or F1 in general. When car manufacturers have full ownership of F1 teams, they leave a vacuum when they decide to pull out, as Honda has already done several times. McLaren is better off as a private company, making alliances with different engine suppliers, depending of the circumstances, rather that being tied up to one manufacturer. Beside, Japanese ownership of F1 teams hasn't been crowned with success, as far as I can remember. I would much prefer McLaren staying a British team and a British company than becoming a Honda outlet in future.
Has Berger really proven himself as a team leader? In his time as director of BMW Motorsport in 1999, during the LMR V12 era in sports car racing, his main contribution was reducing the amount of visible sponsorship signage on the cars from their debut at Sebring where they appeared in beautiful Beck's Beer sponsored livery to that of a virtual blank white billboard by the end of the season. He even found a way to reduce or eliminate the red and blue BMW Motorsport logo on the bonnet being relative obscure. Basically, if Berger didn't like a logo or color on the car, it came off. Some funny ideas anyway. BHW
Ron's rubicon Honda. It's make it or retire. This was his deal. If it doesn't pan out, he's toast. This year he has the best engine on the grid and consistently finishes well behind the other Merc engines. No improvement in the season has been seen. In fact, they seem to be falling farther behind. Honda is his only saving grace -- or his doom.
I think they can. As a F1 team, McLaren is well funded and lacks no technical facilities. As a sport cars manufacturer, McLaren is developing nicely and has a full order book. There is no sign that either activity requires a rescue of some sort. I would fear for McLaren's future if it ever became part of Honda.
Under Honda´s umbrella McLaren would do fine but I don´t think that after their last attempt Honda wants to stay forever at F1. At least not at this moment: if they start winning maybe they´ll change their minds.
