Ron Dennis today confirmed that he is removing his last vestiges of involvement with the McLaren F1 team, though the former CEO of the team denies that his decision has anything to do with the ongoing Liegate scandal.
Dennis had stepped back from his position as team principal over the winter, handing the reigns to Martin Whitmarsh, but he has now further handed his responsibilities as CEO to Whitmarsh, with the transfer having taken place earlier in the week.Dennis will now focus all of his attention on completely removing his name from having any association with the painful and endless Liegate affair. By which we mean, he will head up the exciting new "McLaren Automotive" sports car business, a stand-alone enterprise from the team which plans to be churning out crass, overpriced cars for footballers to buy by 2011.
"I passed the role of team principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to Martin Whitmarsh on January 16th, the day of the launch of our new Formula 1 car," Dennis mournfully explained, "That day I was asked many times whether I would attend the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. My answer was 'yes'. I duly attended it - albeit not as the person in charge of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. It was, I admit, a strange feeling.
"The next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, I watched on TV in the UK - an activity I found surprisingly easy. I'd expected to be more emotional about it, after an unbroken run of attending so many grands prix for so many years.
"I admit I'm not always easy to get on with. I admit I've always fought hard for McLaren in Formula 1. I doubt if Max Mosley or Bernie Ecclestone will be displeased by my decision. But no one asked me to do it. It was my decision."
Bland financial type Richard Lapthorne will be appointed both as non-executive chairman of the McLaren Group and a non-executive director of McLaren Automotive in an attempt to fill some of the gap left by Dennis's departure.
Dennis was quick to point out that his decision had nothing at all to do with the Liegate affair, with McLaren due to attend a hearing at the World Motor Sports Council on April 29th on charges of bringing the sport into disrepute. Dennis muttered that "No, I have no qualms about what I am doing. This group needs to grow. I want to double the value of McLaren over the next two to five years. This is a good time to grow the business because there are quite a few talented people becoming available." Which almost sounds plausible.
Meanwhile, new CEO has admitted that he offered to resign over the issue of the team apparently lying to the stewards in Melbourne, saying that he had mooted the possibility to McLaren's shareholders after the scandal broke.
"I did offer my resignation after the weekend, that was graciously declined," Whitmarsh sheepishly acknowledged in a news conference in Shanghai, "I offered it to the shareholders, and that was declined. The reality is that in the future it will be the new chairman's decision, which is normal in any business."
The new boss also denied that Lewis Hamilton's rather intimate relationship with the team will not be damaged by Dennis's departure.
"I am very fond of Lewis," he said, rather cloyingly, "Like all families there are times when things are not perfect and we have to support each other.
"I think he has certainly expressed his support for this team consistently, and he has very kindly expressed his support for me, I think and I hope that I have a good relationship with Lewis and I think he is committed just as we are to restoring the good fortunes and competitiveness of this team in the future."
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