Former chief of Lotus – Renault team, Eric Boullier will be, starting February 3rd, the new racing director at McLaren announced Wednesday the British team.
Friday it was announced his resignation from the position of team principal at Lotus – Renault and the press speculated since then that he will move to McLaren, to a similar position held by Martin Whitmarsh who was not mentioned as part of the team in the press release and he will be replaced with another person.
Team principal position will disappear in the new organizational structure designed by Ron Dennis, who returned this year to the helm of McLaren. Responsibility of leader of the Formula 1 team will be taken by McLaren Racing CEO and the person who will occupy this position will be announced soon. The name rumored for the role is that of Ross Brawn, who left Mercedes at the end of 2013.
Boullier managed to achieve outstanding performance at Lotus under significant financial constraints. He will be number 3 in the Woking team, reporting to CEO of McLaren Racing, a new position whose occupant will report to McLaren Group Chairman . Jonathan Neale will act as Interim CEO of McLaren Racing.
Martin Whitmarsh became the team principal at McLaren in March 2009, but, under his leadership, the second most titled team in history after Ferrari didn’t achieve the expected results. 2013 season was a failure for the British team, the worst since 1980. McLaren finished on the 5th place in the constructors’ championship, behind Lotus; and Jenson Button and Sergio Perez stood on modest positions in the drivers’ hierarchy, 9th, and 11th respectively.
This year, Ron Dennis, former team principal from 1982 to 2009, returned to lead the McLaren group and announced major changes in the team structure.
The changes started with the drivers: Mexican Sergio Perez was replaced by Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen, and will continue in the motoring of the race cars. Starting in 2015 McLaren cars will be powered by Honda engines, instead of Mercedes. It is also rumored that the double world champion Fernando Alonso, now at Ferrari, will return in 2015.
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