Ron Dennis
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Ron Dennis CBE (born June 1, 1947) is the chairman, CEO and 15% owner of the McLaren Group. He is also the team principal of the McLaren Formula One team.
Since 1981 Dennis has been the team principal of the McLaren Formula One team and has been instrumental in transforming the team into a world championship contender, winning constructors' and drivers' world championships for Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. Rumour has it that in the past Dennis has sometimes been decidedly critical of FIA president Max Mosley.[1][2]
In January 2007, Dennis sold half of his 30 per cent shareholding in the McLaren Group to the Bahraini Mumtalakat Holding Company - he now owns a 15 per cent share. Co-owners of the McLaren Group are Mansour Ojjeh's TAG Group (15 per cent), Daimler (40 per cent) and Mumtalakat (which owns a total of 30 per cent). The move prompted speculation that Dennis was looking to step down as head of the Group - a rumour he has clearly distanced himself from for the time being as he is actively concentrating on continuing to strengthen and develop the McLaren Group. McLaren Group COO Martin Whitmarsh is lined up to take over from Dennis at some point in the future. He also operates as CEO of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One team.
Ron Dennis was placed at number 648 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 with a net worth of £90 million, although many Formula One insiders believe his actual worth to be much greater.
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[edit] Early life
Born and raised in Woking, England, Dennis began working for the Cooper Formula One team in 1966 at the age of 18 where he worked alongside lead driver Jochen Rindt.[3] In 1968 Rindt moved to Brabham and took Dennis with him. For the 1969 season Rindt moved to Lotus; however, Dennis stayed on, choosing instead to work for Sir Jack Brabham.[4]
When Brabham chose retirement in 1971, Dennis and his colleague Neil Trundle decided to start their own team. In 1971 Rondel Racing was founded in Dennis's native Woking.[3] By the mid-1970s the team was enjoying considerable success in Formula Two (and Dennis was the only man to whom Ron Tauranac ever sold cars on credit). Rondel aspired to being a little more than a customer team, however, and Dennis soon managed to find a backer (Motul) to fund a Rondel F2 car; the car took its name. For 1974 a Ray Jessop-designed F1 car was planned, but the energy crisis affected racing severely and the car was completed by other hands and raced as the Token and later the Safir.
Dennis regrouped, forming a Marlboro-backed F2 team for two modestly-talented but well-sponsored drivers from Ecuador. In 1975 Dennis founded the Project Three team, and his cars once again became race winners. In the late 1970s Dennis founded Project Four. This team went on to great success in Formula 2 and Formula 3, winning championships in 1979 and 1980 with Philip Morris (Marlboro) backing. Project Four also participated in the build programme for Procar BMW M1 racing cars. As his business interests became increasingly successful and lucrative, Dennis aspired to return to Formula One, hiring talented designer John Barnard to spearhead the design and development of an innovative new F1 car.
Dennis's return to Formula One was perfectly timed. The recent poor performance of the former world championship-winning McLaren team had prompted Philip Morris executive John Hogan to initiate a takeover of the outfit by Dennis's Project Four operation. Effectively a reverse takeover, it heralded the arrival of the rebranded McLaren International [5] operation and ultimately placed the thirty-four year old in full control of the outfit. Dennis's twin-masterstroke was the hiring of Barnard to begin work on the team's revolutionary new carbon fibre composite chassis, the MP4/1, [6]
[edit] Building McLaren
Prior to Dennis's arrival at McLaren in September 1980, the team was going through a particularly uncompetitive stint. The team had last won a grand prix with James Hunt in 1977 and had finished a lowly seventh in the 1980 constructors' title with John Watson and Alain Prost. Even in those early days Dennis recognised the young Frenchman’s potential but was unable to prevent him moving to the Renault team for 1981, a season that saw McLaren once again winning races - with Watson's victory at Silverstone a very popular highlight. The year 1981 also saw many other teams struggling to duplicate Barnard's revolutionary chassis.
In 1981 Dennis and his business partners bought out the other McLaren shareholders, Teddy Mayer and Tyler Alexander. In 1983 Dennis persuaded then-Williams backer Mansour Ojjeh to become a partner in McLaren International. Ojjeh invested in Porsche-built turbocharged engines which carried the name of his company, Techniques d'Avant Garde (TAG).[7]
Dennis then persuaded the retired Niki Lauda to return to Formula One and at the 1982 South African Grand Prix the double World Champion lined up alongside Watson at the start of the season. By the end of the year both drivers had secured two victories, and 1983 began with more success with Watson's United States Grand Prix win. No more victories followed that year, but Lauda debuted the Porsche-powered MP4-1E interim chassis at that season's Dutch Grand Prix. By the following race, the Italian Grand Prix, both cars were powered by turbocharged engines: McLaren-Ford had become McLaren-TAG. Convinced by his initial investment, Ojjeh became the major investor in McLaren, taking 60 per cent of the shares. By the end of the year Alain Prost, now a race winner at Renault, had been signed to replace Watson; and with the massively experienced Lauda at his side, everything was set for a title challenge in 1984.
In just four years Dennis had turned McLaren from an also-ran team into a front-runner, and in 1984 his work was rewarded with 12 wins from 16 races and both drivers' and constructors' titles. Lauda took the drivers' crown by a half point from his McLaren team-mate Prost, with both drivers scoring more than double the tally of third-placed Elio de Angelis. The following year the situation was reversed and Prost beat Lauda to the drivers' title. McLaren finished eight points ahead of second-placed Ferrari that year, but the pack was closing and in 1986 Dennis's McLaren team lost out to Williams, although the consistent Prost won the drivers' title.
By 1987 it was clear that the TAG engine was no longer competitive in the face of increased manufacturer involvement, and so Dennis approached Honda, who were at the time supplying rivals Williams and Lotus. Unnerved by a recent road-car accident to team principal Frank Williams, and Williams's unwillingness to accept a Japanese driver (Satoru Nakajima), Honda transferred their engine supply to the McLaren team. Dennis further strengthened his team by signing Brazilian Ayrton Senna to partner double champion Prost.
In 1988 McLaren was supremely dominant, even when compared to the superiority it had experienced in 1984, taking 15 of the 16 races and both titles with no real opposition. But it was behind the scenes that Dennis's political manoeuvering was most required. Partnering Prost with the volatile but brilliant Senna, undoubtedly two of motor racing's all-time greats, had always been a recipe for conflict, but Dennis masterfully kept both drivers focused on racing; yet it could not last.
By mid-1989 it was clear that even Dennis was powerless to pacify his two warring drivers. Following a fall-out in the aftermath of a broken promise between Senna and Prost at the 1989 San Marino GP, the pair messily collided in Suzuka, a move that handed that year's title to the Frenchman. Nevertheless, Prost left the team for Ferrari and was replaced by Gerhard Berger for the following season.
[edit] The 1990s
At the start of the 1990s McLaren continued to dominate the sport with Ayrton Senna taking back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991. McLaren signed the promising newcomer Mika Häkkinen as a test driver at the end of 1992, but by 1992 Williams was once more in the ascendancy. McLaren was not to win another title for seven long years. Instead, with the loss of Honda power in 1993, Dennis was left haggling with Ford and Ford's works team Benetton for a supply of competitive engines. A disappointing partnership with Peugeot in 1994 failed to yield the expected results and left Dennis searching to find a fourth engine partner in as many years. He succeeded: in October 1994 he agreed terms with Mercedes to supply engines from 1995 onwards, an association that endures to this day.
The first couple of seasons of the McLaren-Mercedes relationship were difficult, with the inevitable teething troubles that always come with a new engine, indifferent chassis, and the odd choice of a driver for 1995 in the ageing Nigel Mansell. Mansell did not even fit the car at the start of 1995 (Mark Blundell deputised) and even when a revised chassis was produced Mansell's performances were not successful. Mika Häkkinen gradually assumed leadership of the team but suffered severe head injuries in a crash at the end of the 1995 season, from which he fortunately made a complete recovery.
By the mid-1990s Dennis was once more guiding his team towards domination of the sport, and in 1996 he approached Williams's star designer Adrian Newey to become technical director of McLaren. Newey agreed and in 1998 McLaren once more took both the drivers' and the constructors' titles with Mika Häkkinen. A second drivers' title followed in 1999, but Ferrari took constructors' glory, a sign of things to come in the next five years.
[edit] The 2000s
In 2000 Dennis was made a Commander of the British Empire.
In 2001 Dennis was faced with a crisis amongst his staff when Jaguar boss Bobby Rahal attempted to lure Newey from McLaren. Details of how Dennis convinced Newey to stay have remained extremely vague, but rumours in the specialist motor racing press suggested a deal allowing the designer to work on racing yachts; this never happened in the end, however. In the same year, team leader Mika Häkkinen announced that he was to leave the sport. Faced with the loss of his double world champion star driver, Dennis signed Finn Kimi Räikkönen from under the nose of Ferrari boss Jean Todt, who had made little secret of his interest in the driver.
In 2005 Dennis remained at the top of the sport following a poor year in 2004. Despite producing their strongest performance for several years and winning more grands prix than any of their rivals, McLaren were narrowly beaten in both championships by the Renault F1 team. A further blow was the announcement that Adrian Newey was to join Red Bull Racing from the start of 2006.
However, in December 2005 McLaren announced a title sponsorship deal with Vodafone (estimated to be worth £500 million) and the signing of World Champion Fernando Alonso, both contracts to commence in 2007. In the interim McLaren had a difficult 2006 season, failing to win a race for the first time since the 1996 season.[8] Halfway through the 2006 season, McLaren gave up on perfecting their current car and the team focused on the 2007 MP4-22 car. The start of the 2007 season saw McLaren in top condition, with only Ferrari as a challenger for the world championships.[9] Very quickly into the season the McLarens became the cars to beat, with both drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, in the race for the drivers' championship. However, the team suffered throughout the season for the in-fighting between Alonso and Hamilton, much like the fights in the same team between Senna and Prost.
Meanwhile, Dennis was seen to be personally under strain during the espionage controversy that saw McLaren's chief designer Mike Coughlan accused of obtaining confidential Ferrari technical data from Ferrari's chief engineer Nigel Stepney. In September, McLaren were found to be in breach of Article 151c of the FIA International Sporting Code - an article that describes acting "against the interests of motor sport generally".
The FIA World Motor Sport Council stripped the team of their 2007 constructors' points and handed out a US$100 million fine. While the Ferrari management rejoiced at the verdict, many Formula One insiders felt that the evidence that had convicted McLaren was never adequately proven. Similarly, Dennis was vindicated personally; indeed, so keen was he to cooperate with the investigation and protect his own and McLaren's fundamental reputation for integrity, that he personally informed the FIA of new evidence which was ultimately used to convict the team.
In the Alonso vs. Hamilton conflict, Dennis always advocated treating his two drivers equally. However, after the Chinese Grand Prix, he said "We weren't racing Kimi, we were basically racing Fernando." The Times said his comments "made a nonsense of his claims to be treating his drivers equitably in the World Championship run-in"[10] but the team's insistence on parity until the very final race in Brazil underlined Dennis's core philosophy even if it ultimately lost the team the world championship.
A petition has been established on the British Government's Downing Street Website to ask her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to grant a knighthood to Ron Dennis for his services to motor sport, business and technology.
[edit] "Ronspeak"
"Ronspeak" is the term coined for the style of speech used by Dennis in Formula One racing. It has become a well-used phrase in the F1 paddock to describe sentences of unneeded complexity. Dennis is renowned for his excessively verbose and cautious answers to tough questions from Formula One journalists. It started circa 1980, when sponsorship started to play a more prominent role in the sport.
However while acknowledging that the term has been used to criticise Dennis, the former editor-in-chief of F1 Racing, Matt Bishop, argues that "Ronspeak" is not a vice; rather, it is informative and accurate.[11] Dennis, in describing Fernando Alonso's contribution to the McLaren team's development, said his experience and ability "[prevented] an F1 team from going down [time wasting] technical cul-de-sacs - and as a result, car-developmental progress becomes more linear." Bishop described this as a prime example of Ronspeak, hailing it as "logical, informative and insightful. [but also] careful... in that what it doesn't do is compare Alonso's exceptional all-round ability with that of his predecessors."[11]
Matt Bishop is now the Head of Communications and Public Relations at the McLaren Group.
[edit] Personal life
On February 15 2008, Dennis announced his intention to separate from his wife of 22 years,[12] Lisa, with whom he has three children. Lisa Dennis was the author of a series of illustrated children's books during the 1990s; they followed the Formula One adventures of main characters "Mac" and "Lauren".
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Henry, Alan. "Interview: Dennis not menaced by faltering start: The McLaren chairman's belief in a winning future is undimmed by his team's present problems", Guardian, Guardian Newspapers, 2006-03-21, p. 8. Retrieved on 2007-04-08. "Dennis - who has a somewhat tense personal relationship with the FIA president Max Mosley"
- ^ Henry, Alan. "Motor racing: Stern Mosley shows no mercy: FIA chief says drivers not to blame, writes Alan Henry", The Guardian, Guardian Newspapers, 2005-05-06, p. 32. Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ a b "The team: management biographies", www.mclaren.com, McLaren. Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ Keating, Frank. "British Grand Prix: Man behind the man behind the wheel - Frank Keating meets Ron Dennis, whose pursuit of perfection still sparks McLaren", The Guardian, Guardian Newspapers, 1991-07-13. Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
- ^ Henry, Alan. "Motor Racing: Jaguar land Crocodile's brother", The Guardian, Guardian Newspapers, 2003-02-25, p. 31. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ and the successful recruitment of the Porsche automobile firm to build the cars' engines from 1984-87. The 'MP4' designation originally stood for Marlboro Project Four (the MP4/1 design was complete before the merger). The numbering system has been retained until the present time (the 2008 car is known as the McLaren MP4-23). After the change of title sponsor in 1997, the same abbreviation was retained, with the 'M' now standing for McLaren.
- ^ Blundsden, John. "Dennis confronts the difficulties of his own success", The Times, Times Newspapers, 1988-07-07. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ Zanca, Salvatore. "Alonso wins Malaysian Grand Prix for McLaren", USA Today, 2007-04-08. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ Henry, Alan. "Dennis' nous helps British team rediscover winning ways", The Guardian, Guardian Newspapers, 2007-04-09. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ Slip of the tongue by Ron Dennis adds fuel to Fernando Alonso conspiracy theory
- ^ a b Matt, Bishop. "The Long Interview: Ron Dennis", F1 Racing, Haymarket, May 2007, pp. 48-56. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
- ^ Dennis announces separation from wife. itv.com (2008-02-15). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
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