Ron Dennis and McLaren have officially parted ways – the 69-year-old has stepped down from his position as chairman and chief executive of McLaren Technology Group under growing pressure.

He remains a shareholder of McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive Limited, but intends to launch his own technology company in 2017. He will be on gardening leave for the remainder of his time with McLaren.

“The grounds they state are entirely spurious,” Dennis said in a statement… 

With Jochen Rindt at Cooper, 1966. The pair moved to Brabham after the 1967 season.

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Dennis with Jack Brabham, Nürburgring 1969

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Following his Rondel Racing and Project Three F2 and F3 squads, Dennis founded Project Four, which played a major part in the BMW M1 Procar series

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Project Four merged with McLaren in 1980 and Niki Lauda secured the Formula 1 World Championship in 1984, the team’s first with Ron Dennis at the helm 

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McLaren then became the dominant force of the late 1980s and early 1990s

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Mika Häkkinen claimed McLaren’s first title since 1991 in 1998, retaining his crown a year later

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Another title drought followed, until Lewis Hamilton‘s 2008 win.