McLaren: Mercedes lets go of capital

Mercedes, which bought 75,1% of the shares of the Brawn GP team to have its own racing team. Formula 1 last November, gave up on his position vis-à-vis the Vodaphone team McLaren-Mercedes. McLaren has in fact bought back almost three quarters of the shares previously held by Mercedes.

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team manager and quoted by Reuters, states that these are “ 11% which are still owned by Mercedes » in the Woking stable. Last year, the German manufacturer still had 40% of the shares but announced its gradual withdrawal from the Woking team. If the partnership between McLaren and Mercedes is to last until the end of 2011, there is no doubt that the existence of the Mercedes GP team will push the German firm to withdraw entirely.

Ron Dennis, former team manager of the McLaren F1 team, now director of McLaren Automotive (sports cars), owns 15% of the team's shares, just like Mansour Ojjeh. Mumtalakat, a firm established in Bahrain, holds 30% of the capital.

In addition, this financial disengagement should not influence the relationship between McLaren and the Mercedes engine department, since the German manufacturer must supply Woking with engines until 2015.