Fernando Alonso may soon enter the capital of the McLaren Group, which owns the eponymous Formula 1 team. The Spaniard’s investment in his former team will be made public in 2019 as famous team look to add IndyCar success.
Bored by McLaren’s lack of results in the last four years in F1, Alonso has chosen to retire at the end of the 2018 season. However, he will enter into the Indianapolis 500 in next year under the colors of the Woking team.
Alonso could also take the wheel of the MCL34 during the winter testing to guide McLaren in the development of his new Formula 1 car. And he could even get closer to McLaren by becoming a co-owner of the company.
The Spanish media Soymotor says that an official announcement is scheduled for January 12 or 13 at the Birmingham Motor Show, organized by the British magazine Autosport.
McLaren Group shareholding has already changed significantly in the last two years with the departure of Ron Dennis and the entry into the capital of Canadian businessman Michael Latifi. The latter acquired 10% of the shares of the company last May for an amount of 204 million pounds, valuing the McLaren Group to some 2.2 billion euros.
Soymotor claims that Alonso’s investment could follow on similar lines to Latifi’s, but says an exact is yet to be determined.
The sovereign family of the Kingdom of Bahrain remains the majority shareholder of the McLaren Group with approximately 56% of the shares through the Mumtalakat investment fund.
Mansour Ojjeh, former partner of Ron Dennis, remains the second largest shareholder with 14% of the shares. Four other shareholders – in addition to Michael Latifi – share the rest of the McLaren Group’s capital around 20%.
Fernando Alonso leaves McLaren F1 at the end of the 2018 season. (Source:www.autosport.com)
Alonso announced his departure from McLaren at the end of the 2018 season, indicating ha had doubts over the team’s ability to compete for the championship in the coming year. The McLaren-Honda project appeared to offer the opportunity, but frustratingly it proved to be another false dawn and another example of him being in the right place at the wrong tome.
Alonso has been crowned world champion twice, won 32 Grand Prix during his career, and has stood on the podium close to 100 times.
