Ron Dennis will be stepping down as boss of the McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team. Ron will concentrate on another branch of the company called McLaren Automotive that is planning a new range of exclusive sports cars and, in particular, a Ferrari-challenging road car due for launch in 2010.

McLaren’s Chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh will take over Dennis’s role and his job will be to make the new MP4-24 race car eve more competitive than last year’s car.