Ron Dennis stands down as McLaren chairman after 35 years

Ron Dennis has been forced to stand down as chairman and chief executive of McLaren, bringing to an end his 35-year involvement with the Formula One team.

The 69-year-old relinquished his duties at the team, who are the sport’s second most successful despite not having won a race for four years, following a decision by the majority shareholders to place him on gardening leave.

“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,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The grounds they have stated are entirely spurious . . .”

Dennis owns 25 per cent of McLaren Group, while Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat owns 50 per cent and Saudi-born businessman Mansour Ojjeh, the CEO of TAG, holds the remaining 25 per cent.

Dennis, who has been involved with former champions McLaren since 1980 and is one of F1’s biggest names, stood down as team principal in 2009 but returned as group chief executive in January 2014.

– (Reuters)