R
on Dennis has forcibly relinquished his role as team principal of McLaren, and will be replaced by deputy Martin Whitmarsh, a Spanish newspaper claims. The national sports daily Marca says the decision, compelled by the British team's engine and equity partner Mercedes-Benz, will shortly be confirmed by means of a press release.

Marca said Mercedes, the German manufacturer that is tipped to shortly take over the entire Woking based team, was angered by Dennis' mishandling of the espionage scandal last year that cost the outfit a lot of money and arguably both 2007 titles. Dennis, who has overseen McLaren's ultra-successful reign since the early 1980s, could be given a new position but will not be in a crucial decision-making role, Marca added.

Dennis still owns 15 per cent of McLaren, with the rest of the equity divided between Mercedes, a Bahraini company, and Mansour Ojjeh.


Source: GMM

F1 News: Police Raid Homes of McLaren Execs
Thursday, February 28, 2008 - 07:00 AM

Overseen by local police, the British homes of McLaren bosses including Ron Dennis were raided by Italian criminal investigators on Wednesday.

The Mercedes-powered team confirmed in a statement that the private dwellings of "a number of McLaren executives" - four in total - were swept by the Italians as Modena magistrate Giuseppe Tibis continues to investigate the transfer of stolen information from Ferrari, otherwise known as the espionage scandal.

As well as the raids in the homes of the McLaren bosses, a "similar process has been performed at the McLaren Technology Centre", the team added, including inside Dennis' own office.

The Guardian newspaper, however, reported that police "did not take anything away" from any of the McLaren executives' homes.

A source told the British publication that police said "there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Nothing physical was taken".

http://www.feedmef1.com/html/modules.php?o...rticle&sid=9450