Ah Seng, voting rights and share holdings are two different things.Mercedes cannot sack Ron whatever their thoughts may be. In fact Haug and Dennis have been friends for 14 years so that's unlikely in any case.
A younger man will run the race team.

adam forrester, London, England

No matter how RD wishes to dress it up,the fact is he had to go after the debacle of 2007 .His inability to get his drivers to work together for the good of the team ,regardless of which one was misbehaving,was his failure and his alone for the whole world to see.If he cannot succeed in this basic task of man management,and there were only 2 to be managed ,then he is pretty useless as a leader and manager .
The further spying scandal when he changed his story repeatedly after swearing under oath a previous version,raised many questions about what was going on in McLaren and the truth.There is probably even worse to come in the unpublished police investigation.Remember RD only capitulated in the spying scandal when it became clear the FIA had a "smoking gun" in the form of emails of McLaren staff that showed many of them were well aware of the stolen data.
If the Italian police have further data implicating McLaren,then suddenly announcing his departure would fit his pattern.

C.Elder, Paris , France

I am spanish but "discover" Mr. Dennis as I was living in England. I deeply admire him as a person and as a bussiness man. He is an example to follow in many ways (in spite of what happened last year). It is silly to think he has been forced to leave, for all the reasons already mentioned. Everybody close to him knew he was planning to leave F1 long before last year.

I suffer a lot with the comments (specially in Spain) of people who talked about him without having the faintest idea of what they were talking about.

Mr. Dennis doesn't need a knighthood, he is already more than a Knight..

I wish he will find his way and happiness after so many years of hard work and wish his familly will come together again.

All the best Mr. Dennis!

Sarcha, Spain, Spain

Ron Dennis is one of my business heroes. I wish him all the best. The guy simply is one of the classiest operators in the western world. Hope he stays one more season with Mclaren, Lewis and Kovy to kick some red whiny Ferrari ass with a constructor champ and driver 1 & 2.

Brian D Brown, Seattle, USA

It's inevitable, only the blinkered could ever have thought otherwise with many seeing the writing on the wall as far back as Monaco 07.
RD is autocratic in style, finding it difficult to delegate and this would lead to his downfall and the disintegration of the McLaren structure he had lost control of. Martin Whitmarsh may be installed as a interim measure, but as a long term replacement, doubtful, as he's part of the problem.

Reliance on one's integrity in F1 is perilous, if Ron (who I've always respected and liked, though critised on occasions) has managed to to salvage very much of it in 27 years in F1 I'll munch on my hat!

JR, B,ham, UK

Lank Lewe Ron Dennis – Long live Ron Dennis. Mr. Dennis will stay one of my role models no matter what the media say or how people try to put him down. I have been a loyal supporter of Mclaren rather then any other team as they under the management of Mr. Dennis show me what competition and sportsmanship is all about. Never had Mclaren seek to find points of the track (unlike certain other teams) and they never and the FIA as father to punish other teams if they can’t win them on the track. And for the fools who think that Ron was sacked, its worth mentioning that he is a shareholder of Mclaren as well as chairperson so it will be difficult to sack him. Ron Dennis for all its worth, you many a times made my feel proud to be a Mclaren supporter even in the time of trouble, you are a man with a heart and when you go enjoy life to the fullest you earned it. God Bless you and may all your troubles be something of the past. The true Mclaren supporters will miss you. Darian Petersen

Darian Petersen, Oxford, England

Ron and Mansour doesnt own 60% of the company.

DaimlerChrysler : 40%
Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company : 30%
TAG Group : 15%
Ron Dennis : 15%

Ah Seng, Taman Jurong, Singapore

Ron Dennis will stand down as team principle at some point but may remain chairman of the Mclaren group which is involved in a wide range of businesses. He certainly can't be fired as he and his long term business partner Mansour Ojjeh own 60% of the voting rights. For a man who is 61 I think it's a perfectly logically decision to wind down his hectic schedule.

adam forrester, London, England

Sincerely, after the shame of the last year for McLaren, the best thing is than Rom leave F1.

Very good news, and excelent desición.

Javier, Tenerife, Spain

Since they fined McLaren for having an employee that accepted classified information from Ferrari (and i agree he should not have accepted the data) should not Ferrari be fined for having an employee that leaked (stole) the data? This whole affair seems very one sided. They should have be equally fined....especially since Ferrari cheated in Australia with the movable under tray.

Ron, Sterling, US

Mr Richard Rae writes: "...fined McLaren a record £50m and disqualified the team from the constructors’ championship, which it would have won".

Mr Richard Rae: you seem to forgett that Mclaren did not get any constructors championship points in Hungary (thanks to Hamilton, I must say). So, actually, Mclaren would have not won...

Do your calculations if you do not believe me!!!

J, Suffolk, UK

Dennis is not going, is not stepping down. Dennis got the sack because he was unable to win when he got the best car and the best drivers. This is the point. We may now talk about his qualities, his excellent management (in technical and economical affaires). But he is out of this business, and he is for good.

Juan, Madrid, Spain

OK, Let's face it. Dennis is "leaving" because of FIA pressure, Mercedes pressure, ongoing investigation pressure, etc.

But make no mistake, FIA was never against Hamilton (he would not have had the opportunity to compete after Monza) but hoping he wins this year's championship (just watch out for some dodgy decisions coming his way :-))

Paranoia..No...I call it reality and experience based on what everybody saw last year (apart from some extremes of the english fan base for the looks of it)

J, Suffolk, UK

Well I think the answer to James question is simple:
now that Alonso is out, there is no need to balance strategies between teammates. As we saw last season Ron Dennis made some terrible mistakes in terms of strategy, showing lack of personality. There is no obstacles in Hamilton s way now.

xeron, cardiff, uk

It's understandable, given his family situation, that he should want to take a step back and be more available to his kids. Also he must be exhausted after all the troubles of last year and the impending headache of an expensive divorce.

Poor old Ron. You have to feel for him. Talk about an annus horriblis. But it's a great shame he's not bowing out on top. If he could hang in there just 12 more months he could step down with McLaren champions and with Lewis wearing the crown. He could be inline for a knighthood, but instead by stepping down now, with his personal reputation blighted by Stepneygate, he'll get none of the spoils that he so richly deserves.

That said, Ron has made McLaren what they are - professional, ambitious and idealized. But also uncommunicative. And this has got them into many a fine mess in the last 12 months. McLaren, and Hamilton, need a leader who is far more media savvy...

Adam, Paris, France

The time to go, is just when you feel you should. Regardless of other pressuresd, if Ron thinks it is time to go, then it is. Well done Ron, take it easy, your place in motoring history is well secured. You have nothing left to prove!

S. Barraclough, Huddersfield, W. Yorkshire

Firstly, Ron Dennis has unquestionably been good for Maclaren, formula 1 and motor sport in general over the past 20 or so years. His hand or not in the current spygate saga will hopefully be clarified by the appointed arbitrators (i hope). Until then there is no reason or point in doubting what Ron Dennis has to say on the matter.

Secondly, his stepping down may be good for him personally, that is a decision for him and probably the most relevant point. It is obvious that it would not be good for Maclaren or the person stepping into his shoes! (heavy fine impinging on resources and pit 5 just to begin!).

Finally, i personally would like Ron Dennis to go on a high after taking the drivers and constructors this year!

Hemi Patel, Darwin, Australia

The big question now is, how will Mclaren fare in 2008 without
Ron Dennis in charge? Despite the denials, I find it hard
to believe that Ron Dennis decided to quit without it inpart
being connected to the 'ongoing' investigation into last year's
spy scandal.
One thing is for sure, Mclaren won't be able to keep a lid on
things if that is the reason. Just as sure as they were unable
to shackle Fernando Alonso's mouth.
I for one will be sad to see Ron Dennis go, despite the spy
scandal. For the best part of thirty years he has been involved
at the highest level. Has worked with the likes of Senna, Prost,
Hakkinen, Juan Pablo Montoya, and ofcourse, Alonso!
Wow, Renault better pray they have a fast car this year, and
that all their paperwork is in order! lol

james hunt, orlando, florida, usa