McLaren Formula One team appoint executive director after Ron Dennis exit

Dennis, key management figure at McLaren for 35 years, fails last week in High Court bid to stop McLaren board from placing him on “gardening leave” until his contract expires in January.

McLaren have a new leadership in place. Clive Rose / Getty Images

LONDON // Zak Brown was named on Monday as the new executive director of British-based Formula One team McLaren following the controversial exit of Ron Dennis.

Brown, an American former Formula Three driver and once the head of marketing company JMI, is due to take up his new post next month.

Dennis, the key management figure at McLaren for 35 years, failed last week in a High Court bid to stop the McLaren board from placing him on "gardening leave" until his contract expires in January.

A former engineer for Australian driver Jack Brabham, Dennis was forced out of McLaren – a team where he guided the likes of Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton to the world title – by shareholders demanding the 69-year-old quit its chairman and chief executive.

“I’m immensely proud to be joining McLaren Technology Group,” Brown, who previously worked with McLaren on sponsorship deals, said in a statement issued on Monday. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for what the business has achieved to date, and I look forward to contributing to the next important phase in its development.”

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McLaren are still in the process of trying to recruit a new chief executive to replace Dennis, with Brown set to work alongside chief operating officer Jonathan Neale for the time being.

But Brown said his familiarity with the McLaren set up would help him settle into his new role.

“Having worked closely with McLaren for many years, I’ve been struck by the talent and ambition of the entire workforce, and I very much look forward to complementing the business’s many existing strengths, and building on them to drive future success in everything we do.”

The situation at McLaren has been complicated by Dennis still owning a 25 per cent stake in the company.

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat investment fund owns 50 per cent and the remaining 25 per cent by Dennis’s long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh, a Saudi-born Frenchman.

However, Dennis and Ojjeh fell out some time ago and that parting of the ways has come back to haunt the Englishman now that the Bahrainis have sided with Ojjeh.

Ecclestone eyes long-term deal for Singapore GP

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said he wants to strike a “long-term” deal with Singapore this year, playing down earlier comments that the city-state is looking to drop its night race.

Ecclestone’s latest statement provide some positive news for Formula One in Southeast Asia, after neighbouring Malaysia confirmed it was dropping its grand prix after 2018.

He claimed his initial comments had been taken “in a funny way” by a German auto magazine which quoted him as saying that Singapore no longer wanted to host Formula One.

"F1's stand is to hopefully continue in Singapore," the 86-year-old told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper. "Everybody is happy to be in Singapore and [we] don't want to lose Singapore.

“Negotiations are ongoing and will be sorted out shortly before the end of the year, I’m sure. We want to extend long-term. We’ll see what happens.”

Ecclestone has described Formula One’s first night race, which started in 2008 and snakes past Singapore landmarks, as a “crown jewel” of the sport.

But Germany's Auto Motor Und Sport quoted him as saying that Singapore was not looking to renew its current contract, which will expire after next year's race.

“Yes, the grand prix has cost Singapore a lot of money, but we’ve also given them a lot of money. Singapore was suddenly more than just an airport to fly to or from somewhere,” Ecclestone was quoted as saying.

“Now, they believe they have reached their goal and they do not want a grand prix any more,” he added, according to the report.

When contacted by Agence France-Presse, a Singapore GP spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on ongoing commercial negotiations.”

Singapore’s 23-turn, Marina Bay street circuit is seen as one of the most challenging on the calendar and has proved popular with fans.

But organisers said a slowing economic climate has seen daily attendance slump to 73,000 this year from 87,000 in 2015.

On Monday, Malaysia confirmed it was pulling out of F1 after 2018 due to falling revenue and a lack of interest, ending one of Asia’s longest-running races.

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