He had a positive and negative effect on his team. He tended to intimidate the team members on the pitwall, as he did in China in 2007 when they messed up by leaving Hamilton out on worn tyres. Even senior engineers were afraid to take the initiative sometimes once Ron “took over” in a crisis, which he couldn’t stop himself from doing. Whitmarsh will let them get on with it and they will probably be a more effective and more instinctive racing outfit because of it. Last year he drove the mechanics mad at the final race in Brazil by going round urging them to check and double check their work, while saying “Don’t panic” like Corporal Jones, all weekend, which had the opposite to the desired effect.
But that passion which make Dennis such a prickly and wearing character, was also a crucial part of the reason why McLaren has been so successful. His relentless attention to detail and obsession about constant self-improvement made the team what it is. There is no more professional outfit in the pit lane, but it verges on the excessive and I think they can afford to ease off a notch or two on that and perhaps even do a little better, but they will miss his passion.
I’ve had a lot to do with him over the years and have had some very tough experiences and some pleasant ones. He loves jokes, but is better at telling them than listening to them. He’s an enigma of a character; extremely complex and yet apparently quite simple, rather like Nigel Mansell – a fellow dyslexic, who also felt he had something to prove. Ron needed to impress, needed to find superiority and this was very effectively channeled into a competitive desire, which is what made him so successful, but at the same time rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.
As for Whitmarsh, he is a very experienced hand, from an engineering management background. He’s the kind of guy who designs a management matrix, rather than a dirt-under-the-fingernails racer like Dennis or Frank Williams. He’s a more laid back individual than Dennis (but then who isn’t?) and a brilliant manager. Of course, you can argue that he could afford to be laid back, because he wasn’t ultimately in charge and we’ll see how he changes now that the buck stops with him.
The reason why it is the right time for this change is because the map of F1 is being redrawn and a new generation of bosses is coming through. Stefano Domenicali has taken over from Jean Todt at Ferrari and the formation of FOTA and all the energy that will take from the team principals makes it the right time for Whitmarsh to be given his head. He’s a pivotal figure in FOTA and a more suitable character than Dennis to develop and nurture the atmosphere of unity which now pervades between the teams.
Ron will still come to the races, he says and I’m sure he’ll still be on hand for a quote, but I sense that he now wants to rise above it all, become elder statesman-like, possibly pick up that knighthood, which I know he would regard as the culmination of his life’s work.
Am really going to miss Ron he was such an influential character at the races, and I think he will be sorely missed by the masses for his complete professionalism in tough times, I think team bosses up and down any pit lane in the world can take several leafs out of his book. What a professional!!! Who can honestly say they wouldn’t have lost it in 2007 with those accusations flying about and two of the most competitive drivers in the world going at each other hammer and tong, incredible, absolutely incredible. What a man. And if your reading this Ron I hope you have a great time winding down, god knows you deserve it. You have been a great ambassador for the sport but most of all a true gentleman.
May the future bring you happiness and peace.
It’s probably the least surprising semi-retirement and i’d imagine the one with the least impact. Whitmarsh and Dennis have been working in tandem for some time so I very much doubt we’ll notice any difference. I’m glad we’ll still see him at some of the races.
I think the timing was right. Having finally clinched the driver’s title after so long without it, major regulation changes for next season and a business outside of F1 that could do with a strong leader committed to guiding it through a global economic downturn.
The timing of this interests me, why make the announcement a couple of months before the new season (presumably he’s told the team well in advance of this).
The other point of interest I drew was this quote from Ron: “It’s time for Martin to take over. It is 100% my decision – this is a job he will embrace and from now most race-day decisions will be his.”
What does he mean by “most race-day decisions”, i.e. is he not really handing over the reigns?
If you weigh up the negative and positive press that Ron Dennis has generated in the past few years you could argue that he had become a net negative for the McLaren cause (the wrangles with the FIA, other teams and even his tenuous grip on his own young charge, Hamilton, as betrayed by those indiscreet pit radio out-takes). Is it possible that the sport/business of F1 has now outgrown the old school characters that were so influential in its formation? Dennis, like Ecclestone, Mosley and other “old boys”, had increasingly appeared to be just slightly out of synch and uncomfortable in this new media world where image is everything, media relations are ever more demanding and control is so difficult to maintain. Still, as an “old boy” myself, I will miss his grumpy ways.
Very happy to see Ron shuffle from centre stage … have never been a fan of his ‘management’ style and will never forgive him for the way he treated Alonso. Just a great pity that he gets to go with a WDC glowing in the distance …. if only Ferrari hadn’t made so many mistakes and handed the season to Lewis/Macca/Ron.
Hope Martin will do well, but feel he can be a bit too ‘soft’ and ‘wobbly’ and wonder if he really has the drive to push the team on. Expect Macca will slip this year a little during the transition. A job for Ross Brawn if Honda doesn’t get bailed out?
I don’t see Ross Brawn anywhere else but Williams if things don’t work out at ex-Honda.
[…] Why it was time for Ron Dennis to stop – James Allen’s Grand Prix Diary"As Ron said, [he and Martin Whitmarsh have] been sharing the job for years anyway and practically speaking Martin has been the boss for a few years, with Ron the figurehead who makes his presence felt at race meetings and in the public arenas. There will not be much change in the way McLaren goes about its business, although they will probably enjoy better relations with the FIA now that Dennis is out of the way." […]
Interesting to read that Ron Dennis is not leaving McLaren altogether and will still attend all the races. If he is still on the pit wall on occasion will he really be able to resist the opportunity to “take over”? Better surely that he stays back at Woking on race weekends.
[…] Why it was time for Ron Dennis to stop […]
Nobody is talking about the possibility of dennis buying honda. Maybe i am crazy, but all of a sudden mercedes will give the engines, no dead line, they are just waiting for sponsorship to be found , dennis steps down, ferrari gets out of the picture, and if this happens, mercedes will take full control of mclaren, and ron dennis sure would go to some races.
Is not like starting from zero, and would have ross brown under contract, away from ferrari and alonso in the future. He is 61, still young to keep going for a while.
[…] James Allen: Why it was time for Ron Dennis to stop […]
Never laughed so much! Thank you for that comment jose 🙂
Heard it all now! My bet is for the queen to buy the team and take rubens seat for next year!
I’m sorry to see Ron go but I’ll not be surprised to see him back at work on the 1st March. We see that from so many people of that personality type. I too worry that although Martin is a great wing-man, I’m not sure he’s got the spark to be a great team boss. Hopefully Ron will give him the chance to show us what he’s got.
On the subject of Alonso, I remember Ron telling us how good he was at managing Latin drivers when Montoya joined them and we saw how well that went. No surprise he failed similarly spectacularly at managing Alonso. He should have been on his guard after Alonso’s behaviour the previous year at Renault. It’s interesting that Alonso behaved himself so much better last year on his return to Renault – I can’t remember a single paranoid outburst in 2008.