Ex-Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan believes McLaren wishes it had former boss Ron Dennis back running the team.
Dennis worked at McLaren for several decades and oversaw several championship-winning years during his reign.
The Briton ended his association with the team in 2017 amid a difficult number of years for the Woking-based squad.
McLaren’s momentum began to pick up in the seasons that followed, but it has endured a challenging start to the 2023 campaign as it missed development targets for the MCL60 car.
Speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, ex-F1 driver David Coulthard, who has vast experience working under Dennis, claims that the 75-year-old was misunderstood during his time in the sport.
“Ron Dennis was, I think, misunderstood to the outside world,” Coulthard said.
“Because he was an incredibly caring individual to the team and took care of his team personnel if they had medical issues or their family had issues.
“He took care of them quietly, but in a great way because he understood the importance of the team.”
Jordan, who owned an F1 team that bore his name for almost 15 years, says that McLaren probably wishes that he was back running the team.
“Ron was a perfectionist wasn’t he? He just had everything planned. He wanted the [Ayrton] Sennas, he wanted the [Alain] Prosts,” Jordan said.
“To be fair, we all laughed and joked, we took the mickey out of Ron a little bit because of how clinical he is, both in cleanliness and the way he prepares the car and the people, but I bet they wish they had him back.
“Because McLaren now is nowhere near where they were.
“You can say what you like, Ron Dennis was just fantastically dedicated and committed to his team and [was] the unsung hero to the staff members and people [who worked at McLaren.]”
Zak Brown is currently the CEO of McLaren, with Andrea Stella running the day-to-day operations of the F1 team.
