Ron Dennis will step down as the principal of Formula One team McLaren on March 1, making way for long-serving deputy Martin Whitmarsh.
But Dennis, one of the best-known figures in the sport, insisted he was not retiring and would remain intimately involved with the team as they attempt to defend the drivers championship won by Lewis Hamilton last year.
The surprise announcement came as McLaren unveiled their new car for the 2009 season at the team’s headquarters.
Dennis, 62, has run McClaren since 1981 and helped to transform what was then an uncompetitive team into one of the leading forces in Formula One with legendary drivers Nikki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna winning multiple titles in the 1980s and 1990s.
The last decade has been a relatively lean period for the team but McLaren returned to the top when Hamilton secured their first drivers’ championship since 1999 with a dramatic final-race triumph in Brazil.
Dennis has played a central role in Hamilton’s rise to become the first non-white Formula One champion and the driver paid tribute to his mentor.
“I met him when I was ten years old, he has had a huge impact on my life and we are very close friends,” Hamilton said while stressing that he expected Dennis to remain very involved on a day-to-day basis.
“Ron is a huge part of the team,” Hamilton added.
“He has got racing in his blood so he will never leave the team.
“The great thing is we have got great people in the team. It is a huge team, and we are very powerful together.
“It is not as if when he steps down we are going to struggle. We are very, very fortunate that we will stay a strong team.”
While Whitmarsh takes over as team principal, Dennis retains his role as executive chairman of the McLaren Group of companies.
“It’s time for Martin to take over,” Dennis said. “Do not think of this as a retirement, I will be working harder than ever.
“I will still be a full executive chairman. In practice it is a job (the principal’s) that we have shared for years.
“I will still go to races but not all of them because I am passionate about Formula One.”
Dennis’s announcement came after Hamilton had voiced confidence about his ability to successfully defend his title in the team’s new car, the MP4-24.
“I don’t see the fact that I am world champion will add to the pressure on my shoulders for next season,” Hamilton said.
“I’ve obviously a little bit of extra confidence and I’ve reset my goals, reset my targets back to when I started out in Formula One and that’s to be world champion.
“That’s not me sitting here saying, ‘I am world champion’, I am sitting here saying, ‘I want to be world champion’.”
The car Hamilton will be sitting in throughout the upcoming season has come straight from the drawing board after a raft of new technological regulations were put in place.
Featuring heavily-revised bodywork, re-sculpted front and rear wings, slick tyres and a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), the young world champion will face an entirely different driving experience in 2009.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it but I think it looks very elegant,” said Hamilton.
“It’s different with the smaller wings at the back.
“It’s great to see the result of all the hard work that’s gone on.”
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
Well just look at Michael Schumacher. He can't keep away. As you said Paddy it's such a good lifestyle..why would you want to leave it? There could be a bit of tension between Whitmarsh and Dennis if Dennis tries to tell Whitmarsh what to do. Somehow I can't see him just sitting back and enjoying the race. What are your thoughts about BBC covering the races this year? Should be interesting.
Paddy Briggs
Guest
Formula One is a pretty ego driven business. The drivers and, especially, the team owners breathe pretty rarefied air and many of them probably think that they can walk on water as well! It comes, of course, from the extraordinarily privileged lifestyle that the money in the sport allows them to enjoy. Ron Dennis is no exception and he has gradually over the years adapted to the life of the very rich man without too many difficulties. But the driver of Ron’s ambition, like other multi-millionaires like Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, hasn’t been wealth for quite some time. Once you get to a certain level of financial security which guarantees the houses, the cars, the holidays, the private jet, the yacht and the Mark two trophy wives there’s not much more to spend your money on. Both Ron and Bernie could have retired from the sport years ago – but their love of it and the status it provides them drove them on. So if Ron’s announced intention to leave the daily running of McLaren to Martin Whitmarsh in future is really to be believed then we must also believe that he has completely changed his outlook on life. No longer will he be sitting on the pit lane wall during races making the decisions – indeed he won’t even be at some Grands Prix if his recent announcements are to be taken on face value. Well maybe – but I really rather doubt it! McLaren is Ron Dennis in the same way that F1 is Bernie Ecclestone. At 78 Bernie shows no sign of giving up and he will need to be dragged kicking and screaming away for the sport he designed – he isn’t going to walk away. And Ron I suspect is the same. Once the season starts he will miss the smell of the oil and the roar of the crowd. If McLaren starts well he’ll want to be there to bask in the glory – in his own understated way of course! And if the team stutters in the opening races he’ll want to be there to get them back on track. We haven’t seen the last of Ron Dennis by any means – he is sixteen years younger than Bernie Ecclestone and my guess is that when the men in white coast do finally come for Bernie Ron will want to be around to step into his shoes!