Top Stories of 2016, #4: Ron Dennis ousted at McLaren

While it was not quite as big a shock departure as Nico Rosberg quitting after winning the Formula 1 title, the speed and nature of Ron Dennis’ exit from McLaren still sent considerable shock waves through the paddock.

Ever since Dennis engineered his return to the helm of McLaren in January 2014, his long-term future at the team that he has been central to for decades had been the subject of intense speculation.

But for every rumour that there was a push to get him out – because he had not delivered on promises to bring investors for a buyout – he had always fought on and insisted the situation was well under control.

While it was status quo at the top, it was clear his vision for McLaren’s future was very different to that of fellow shareholders Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain sovereign fund Mumtalakat.

Against that backdrop too were disappointing results for McLaren on track, which two years into its relationship with Honda still had not delivered a podium finish.

Perhaps more worrying for the business though was a lack of title sponsor – and other partners having jumped ship – as Dennis refused to budge on what he believed the team’s ratecard should be.

In the end, it was clear that change was needed, and Ojjeh and the Bahrainis made their move – informing Dennis in November that his contract as Group CEO would not be extended beyond January 2017.

Dennis responded in trying to launch an injunction against the move, but he lost in the courts and was duly placed on gardening leave. It would mark the end (at least for now) of his 35-year tenure at the team.

But Dennis is known to be a fighter and, as the legal battle continues to prevent his exit, he is unlikely to sit back and accept his fate.

"The grounds they have stated are entirely spurious; my management style is the same as it has always been and is one that has enabled McLaren to become an automotive and technology group that has won 20 Formula 1 world championships and grown into an £850 million a year business,” he said in a statement on the day it was announced he had been forced out.

For now though, McLaren has turned to sponsor guru Zak Brown – whose primary task will be to turn around the commercial aspects at the team and get it back on a better financial keel.

And there was a certain irony as to how Brown’s arrival at McLaren had come about...

“I talked to Ron before the announcement, I talked to him post announcement, I talked to him before I came here, I text him all the time,” explained Brown about how his relationship with Dennis was.

“Ron at the end of the day is the one who recruited me, and the last couple of years has left the door open. I’ve been married to my existing business so there was no opportunity. And then as I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, i.e. my employment contract, I let him know.

"He turned up the volume in the pursuit of me. I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you now if it wasn’t for Ron Dennis.”