Woking Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2017, mostly due to their incredibly unreliable Honda supplied power units. The team did somewhat casually reach out to Mercedes about supplying them for the future, but for the time being they are under contract with Honda and are forced to make lemonade from lemons. The best long term strategy, one I have written about several times, would be for them to invest funds from McLaren automotive, their successful road car operation, into creating their ownRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Fernando Alonso is not happy. After just 6 days of pre-season testing, McLaren-Honda has had more power unit failures, changes, and technical problems than any other Formula One team and he is laying the blame squarely on Honda. With echoes of his “GP2 engine” remarks, the two time champ berated Honda when he spoke to the media today. “We have only one problem: that is the power unit. There is no reliability and there is no power. I think we are 30 km/h down on every straight.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor American businessman Zak Brown, founder of the world’s largest motorsports marketing firm, Just Marketing International (JMI) has just accepted the role of Executive Director at McLaren. The news comes in the wake of the shock departure of longtime McLaren Chief, Ron Dennis who will see his tenure expire with his contract at the end of 2016. McLaren has been adamant to emphasize that Brown will not replace Dennis, but rather collaborate with company COO Jonathan Neale to lead the business side of the company, and thatRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The previously unthinkable has come to pass, Ron Dennis has stepped down from his role as Chairman and Chief Executive at McLaren. The news comes after much speculation since the team’s troubled performance and lack of results in Formula One. Dennis had planned to buyout fellow shareholders Mansour Ojjeh, and the Bahraini Sovereign Wealth Fund in order to take full control over the company. In his attempts to do so he tried and failed at luring tech giant Apple into a potential buyout or investment dealRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor If reports from the Telegraph and others are to be believed, longtime McLaren Group Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis will vacate his role at the helm of the Woking-based firm when his contract runs out at the end of the year. The impetus for such a huge change is the result of an unsuccessful bid by Dennis to buyout his business partners. Dennis currently owns 25% of the company as does his long time business partner Mansour Ojjeh. The remaining 50% is owned by the Bahraini sovereignRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Highly respected UK newspaper, The Financial Times, has just reported that tech giant Apple is in talks to buy the McLaren Technology Group, parent company of the famed F1 team and car manufacturer in a deal that may be worth up to $2 billion. McLaren has quickly moved to deny the reports, but The Financial Times said it had three sources corroborate the report that talks were indeed in place between the two companies. McLaren is currently owned by three entities: F1 Principal Ron Dennis, company chairmanRead More

 By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Fernando Alonso, gracing the cover of the newest edition of Motor Sport Magazine, proudly proclaims that he wants to win the Indy 500 and Le Mans. It is not the first time the Formula One veteran has made this claim. As his number of competitive years in F1 dwindle, or more accurately; go squandered by McLaren Honda, the once heir apparent to Schumacher is seeking new opportunities to cement his legacy and rediscover the joy in racing. I like this, a lot. Though I haven’t beenRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor McLaren-Honda protege, Stoffel Vandoorne, fresh off his domination of the 2015 GP2 championship is set to race in Japanese Super Formula for the 2016 season. While he awaits his eventual F1 debut, Honda will have the 23 year old Belgian drive for their Docomo Dandelion team in what are the world’s top spec racers. Outside of Formula One and perhaps IndyCar, Super Formula cars are the quickest in the world. Audi’s WEC superstar and brief F1 racer for Caterham, Andre Lotterer finished third in last year’sRead More