End clap for Jonathan Neale at McLaren

Every story has an end and the one between Jonathan Neale and McLaren is close to its goal. Arriving within the team created by Bruce McLaren in 2001 as Director of Operations, the native of Woking, as if he was predestined to work there one day, occupied several highly important positions during his time in the county of Surrey.

Four years after his arrival at McLaren, the engineer was promoted to Managing Director and took part in a successful period for the team punctuated by the title of world champion in Lewis Hamilton in 2008, the first for a representative of the house since Mika Häkkinen in 1999. An important figure in the management of the team with 8 Manufacturers' titles, Jonathan Neale became interim Managing Director in 2015 as Honda returned as an engine manufacturer of the Woking single-seaters thus supervising the operational and commercial activities of the team.

Jonathan Neale celebrating Lewis Hamilton and McLaren's victory at the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix. ©DPPI

With the departure of Ron Dennis at the end of 2016 (before he sold his shares in 2017), Jonathan Neale is stepping away from the sporting field to take care of the operations of the entire McLaren Group including McLaren Racing, McLaren Automotive and McLaren Applied Technologies.

Still in place, the child from Woking should leave once and for all the group he represented for two decades before December 31. Since his arrival, Jonathan Neale has seen McLaren win 53 Grands Prix and a Drivers' title in 2008.