Recently, there were reports that McLaren owner Mansour Ojjeh was stepping down as a director of McLaren Racing. They also said that he was stepping down as a director of McLaren Marketing and also Applied Technologies.

Ojjeh has been involved with the team right from the early 1980s. His TAG-Group bought a majority stake in the Woking company at the time. Now, his holding stands at 15.9%.

The reports also revealed that CEO Zak Brown was appointed Racing director. He takes over the position along with Paul Buddin and John Allert. Brown and Buddin have also been appointed directors at McLaren Marketing. Buddin will also serve as a director at McLaren Applied Technologies.

It is also worth noting that while he is still a director of the group there were no suggestions that he had left the business. A report by the Independent clearly stated that he had stepped down as a director of three of the companies.

“The story in the UK’s Independent by Christian Sylt is entirely misleading,” said the team, adding that the company had not been approached prior to publication to check whether any of the details contained in it were accurate.

“Mansour Ojjeh has not left the business and remains a director of McLaren Group, the second largest shareholder and a fully involved member of the Executive Committee of McLaren,” said the company.

They claim that the move is aimed at “simplifying our corporate structure”. Ever since the ousting of Ron Dennis, the company has been restructured under the group. Ojjeh and executive chairman Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa forming the executive committee.

Funnily enough, the news comes mere weeks after it was revealed that the UK government was investigating the company. If this report does hold some element of truth, what does it mean for the British team?