What Ron Dennis' return to the role of Chief Executive of the McLaren Group may mean for Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh - and what it might also mean for Ross Brawn, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button...
Could Dennis return as Team Principal?Possibly, but the inside word at this stage is that he is unlikely to do so - in addition to reappointed McLaren Group CEO, he also remains Chairman of the McLaren Group and Chairman of McLaren Automotive, so he's hardly short of day-to-day work to keep him busy.
But if not Ron, who then?How about Ross Brawn? A proven success story, and out of work since Mercedes failed to assuage his concerns about their management restructure, Brawn would be a particularly useful asset as McLaren prepare to renew vows with Honda - with whom Brawn worked alongside in the late 2000s.
Would Brawn and Dennis countenance working together?
That remains to be seen, but why not? Dennis and Brawn might have been direct rivals for over a decade as the figureheads of Ferrari and McLaren, but, for both, the lure of revitalising McLaren would surely prove irresistible over any working animosity from yesteryear.
How might Dennis' reappointment affect the driver dynamic at McLaren?Forget any notion of Fernando Alonso returning to McLaren if Dennis - with whom the Spaniard clashed to disastrous effect during his single, destructive season at Woking in 2007 - is back at the helm. In turn, that could be good news for Jenson Button's chances of extending his stay beyond this year.
Assuming Whitmarsh is indeed moved aside, his overt flirtation with Alonso during the dreg days of the season 2013 may in hindsight be seen as a final roll of the dice as he strived to prove he could reverse the tide which had seen a clutch of key personnel - including Lewis Hamilton, Paddy Lowe and Pat Fry - depart during his tenure. Having failed to persuade Hamilton to stay and then demonstrably erred in putting his faith in Perez and the MP4-28, was Whitmarsh finally undone when Alonso rejected a return? Looked at from that perspective, it could soon be argued that Alonso was instrumental in the demise of both of McLaren's Team Principals since the early 1980s.
