Whitmarsh officially leaves McLaren F1
After being sidelined at the beginning of the year following Ron Dennis's return, Martin Whitmarsh has officially left the McLaren F1 team.
Martin Whitmarsh joined McLaren over 20 years ago and had been the team director of Woking since 2009, but at the beginning of the year, following Ron Dennis’s return to prominence, the Briton was sidelined partly due to Eric Boullier’s arrival as the competition director and the appointment of Jonathan Neale as head of the F1 division of the company.
Ron Dennis had notably justified this reorganization by a need to adapt to the new F1 environment: During the first four races this year, the team does not come back. With the former role of team director, it was almost like being absent from the company for four months. I challenge anyone to manage a company and not be there for four months.
Despite this near-eviction, Martin Whitmarsh remained under contract with McLaren, and after months of discussions with Ron Dennis in particular, the Briton has finally been released from his obligations with the Woking team following an amicable agreement. The information was confirmed by a spokesperson for the team to Autosport and GPUpdate, among others.
