McLaren’s announcement on Thursday that Ron Dennis is to bow out of Formula One racing in favour of a role championing the company’s new sports car business, brings to a close one of the most influential careers in the sport’s history. From mechanic to team principal, Dennis has been a pioneering force for the over 30 years.
He started his motorsport career back in 1966, joining the Cooper Racing Car Company after a spell as an apprentice mechanic. Within two years he moved to Brabham where he became the chief mechanic to three-time champion Jack Brabham. By 1971, however, an ambitious Dennis had left to set up his own Formula Two team, Rondel Racing.
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Rondel would be the first of several successful F2 and Procar ventures Dennis was involved with over the next decade. His big break, however, came in 1980 when his team, Project Four, merged with McLaren to form McLaren Racing. Within two years he’d assumed control of the team and with him at the helm the team didn’t look back.
McLaren have since won 162 races, seven constructors’ championships and 10 driver titles, with Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna just some of the famous names to have won championships whilst driving for the Woking team. Their most recent champion, Lewis Hamilton, was hand-picked by Dennis when he was just 13 years-old as a future talent.
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