Prodrive given deadline for McLaren deal

a B team?
By Natasha
June 13 2007

McLaren Team Principle Ron Dennis has outlined that the time is running out for Pro-Drive to confirm whether they want to buy cars and engines from McLaren-Mercedes for the 2008 season. "We don't want to do anything if there isn't an official announcement in July,"

McLaren Team Principle Ron Dennis has outlined that the time is running out for Pro-Drive to confirm whether they want to buy cars and engines from McLaren-Mercedes for the 2008 season.

Pro-Drive is being led by ex-Honda team boss David Richards, he has signalled a few announcements are in the pipeline to coincide with the British Grand Prix in July, but Ron Dennis is adamant that mid July will be a time span in which Pro-Drive have to make up their minds.

According to Autoweek, Ron Dennis was quoted to have said:

"We don't want to do anything if there isn't an official announcement in July,"

Pro-Drive led by Richards has implied McLaren Mercedes are favourites to supply both customer cars and engines, but he was quick to stress, other options are available too.

Ron Dennis continued to outline the deadline by saying: "ProDrive is ambitious, and it has a solid historical base. But to take this project forward, we need the documentation to be perfect.

"That means it must not expose us to the risk of dispersing our resources, nor expose us to other financial risks. Time is now really getting short.

"If by, let's say, mid-July, we don't have a binding contract, then it's highly unlikely we'll commit to a programme for 2008."