Martin Whitmarsh

Well he's the man that's incharge at Mclaren but what do we all really know about the man named Martin Whitmarsh?

Well i can tell you that he has a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He started his career at British Aerospace (best known as BAE systems these days) as a structural analyst engineer at Hamble-le-Rice.

But in 1989 he was joined Mclaren as Head of Operations. In 1997 he was then promoted to Managing Directors role in which he was in charge of the F1 operation and it's partners and sponsors. In 2004 Martin was again promoted this time his position was CEO of the companies F1 operations.

It wasn't until the 1st March 2009 when Ron Dennis was stepping down from his position, as Team principal that Whitmarsh was promoted into that position.

Ever since Mclaren have had the following Championship standings since 2009:

2009: 3rd
2010: 2nd
2011: 2nd

All and all Whitmarsh's teams have been constitantly improving and he'll produce a championship winning team.

But why does Whitmarsh divide F1 fans opinions of him? Is it because he's not the loud and bouncing team principal that others are? Or is it the fact that he's not as good as Ron Dennis?

 

[KekeTheKing]

Hopefully everyone enjoyed Lewis and Martin's celebration on Sunday as much as I did. It was fantastic to see those two jumping up and down around in circles before going up to the podium. Very reassuring images for McLaren fans everywhere. Whitmarsh certainly seems to be enthralled with LH2012, and it's fun to watch.

 

[Josh]

I was waiting for the man love jokes, myself

But yeah it was good to see tbh, I hope this means the relationship between the team and him is getting better again as I doubt it was very good last year or the beginning of this year, because honestly I can't imagine LH in any other team than McLaren...

 

[Mephistopheles]

Martin or Marty as I like to call him is an all round good egg...

 

[racecub]

 

[RasputinLives]

You're just jealous racecub because he gets to do this

"mmmmmmm give us a kiss mwah mwah mwah"

 

[KekeTheKing]

For better or worse, Marty just sealed his legacy at McLaren.

 

[RasputinLives]

I think people said that about Ron when Prost left

 

[KekeTheKing]

Yeah, well there's no Ayrton Senna at McLaren right now....

 

[RasputinLives]

They do have Jenson Button and Sergio Perez. Lets remember when Prost left he was World Champ and people said Mclaren would never recover.

When Senna left they also said it but they brought in some guy called Hakkenien and after a few years that seemed like a good move too.

Then Mika left and they got some guy called Kimi who turned out to be a success.

On top of which the fell out with a guy called Fernando Alonso and put all there money on some rookie who'd had one good year called Lewis Hamilton and that looked good too.

Teams pick up and move on and Mclaren have never stood still for any driver. Whilst Lewis may be missed initially it'll be forgotten when the next driver starts putting the results in so to say this is Whitmarsh's legacy is a bit ahead of the game. He's also just brought in Sergio Perez and landed Telmex as a major sponsor which could also be his legacy.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I did say, "for better or worse", which implies that I recognize the fact this might not be a dreadful move by Marty.

Thanks for the Macca history lesson though

PS - I'll check back with you in 2018 to see if their replacements have won multiple GP every season.

PSS - If Marty's legacy is turning Woking into Team Mexico, then I'm sure he'll be proud.

 

[RasputinLives]

Lol - play nice now KekeTheKing

On Telmex I just meant they are a huge sponsor which may mean Mclaren can afford the up coming engine costs and keep them in contention. That might even be the real motive behind the whole thing. They are owned by one of the richest men in the world.

I guess we will see. I don't think Mclaren will suddenly start dissapearing down the grid without Lewis though.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I don't think Mclaren will suddenly start dissapearing down the grid without Lewis though.

Nor do I Ras. But you have to admit that running your lone WDC (In the last 13 years) out of town comes with a certain amount of peril.

 

[RasputinLives]

Maybe so - As I've said before I'm not sure how 'run out of town' he's been. Lets rememeber that Mclaren's "we let our drivers race' policy is how Lewis came to the fore in the first place and secondly I think a lot of this is about Lewis wanting a fresh start at somewhere different. Sometimes guys become stagnant.

Anyways if as a team boss I had to reside myself to not having Lewis Hamilton I think i could cope with having Jenson Button and Sergio Perez instead.

 

[Brogan]

I expect Whitmarsh is secretly relieved that Hamilton is gone.
Their relationship always seemed very strained and artificial.

He clearly thinks that Button will be able to fill the gap with Perez in support.

 

[racecub]

I agree Brogan. I think Whitmarsh (and Button) will be relieved by not having Lewis around....so long as theres not too much flack as a result.

 

[Brogan]

For anyone leaving McLaren, and he wants to win, I think that's a mistake.

 

[racecub]

Hmmm. Thers not been much winning of late.

 

[teabagyokel]

I count 16 wins since the start of 2010.

[MATHEMATICAL NERD'S POINTLESS ASIDE]I notice in the since 2010 rankings, every team that has one one race has won a square number of races: Red Bull 25, McLaren 16, Ferrari 9, Mercedes/Williams 1. Hmmm...[/MATHEMATICAL NERD'S POINTLESS ASIDE]

 

[Josh]

Oh, is that why they're the team with the most wins of this season so far?

 

[Vortex]

Most wins, most podiums, most pole positions.