Could McLaren's Next Championship Be Its Last?

We all know that Ron Dennis, the CEO of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team will be retiring in a matter of time, what struck me is that if Lewis Hamilton or Heikki Kovalainen were to win the championship, the former being most likely, would this be the last ever championship that McLaren would win?

It can be said that Ron Dennis has been the glue that's kept McLaren as the team and not sold off to the highest automotive bidder that would re-brand and rename the team to their liking.

Whilst the rumour of his impending retirement is untrue, he did say something along the lines that he'll retire when his driver and team wins a championship.

So now, this got me thinking, what would life at McLaren be like after Ron Dennis?

Well, rumour has it that his corporate protege in Martin Whitmarsh would take the reins.

Now, Martin's intentions are all good, and he is a character of good-standing, let's make that clear before we move on.

However, Martin Whitmarsh does not appear to be an opponent to a takeover of the McLaren team by close partner and engine supporter Mercedes-Benz.

As a matter of fact, he was quoted on the eve of the German Grand Prix as "the fact that they (Mercedes-Benz) would like to acquire control is a healthy ambition."

The stage has been set, Ron Dennis has retired to a life of solitude and peace after his driver protege, Lewis Hamilton won a championship and McLaren has won a constructor's championship. What happens?

To start off, Martin Whitmarsh is the number one guy at the team now. He makes the big decisions. Him and Norbert Haug, the vice-president of Mercedes-Benz motorsport, are close.

One day, Haug realizes that since Whitmarsh has control of Ron Dennis' shares of McLaren, and Mansour Ojjeh is not 100% comfortable with the new head of the McLaren team, this is the golden opportunity to make the team into Mercedes-Benz F1.

Martin Whitmarsh decides to give up his stake, which is approximately 15%, in the team for a big payout. Now that Mercedes-Benz has acquired their majority, it's officially the silver star team.

By the next season, the team has been re-branded to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One team. The person in charge is now a German fellow who has been airlifted from corporate. He is not a Mario Theissen character and thus does not hold the same regard for his team than Dr. Theissen does.

McLaren is now what the team is formerly known as, and any sort of indication of the past is probably the moniker that TV commentators give.

When it comes to racing, it will be a different story for the team. While Mercedes-Benz continues to think ahead and develop new technologies, they will not necessarily be at the front because of the changeover in people.

Thankfully, this is just a theoretical way of looking at the takeover of McLaren, and who knows, if Mercedes-Benz were to buy out McLaren, it might be very different...