Dennis downplays losing TAG Heuer to Red Bull

McLaren Group CEO Ron Dennis claims that losing several long-time sponsors, including TAG Heuer to rival outfit Red Bull, will not hurt his team.

McLaren has been without a title sponsor since Vodafone left at the end of the 2013 season. Since then, the British outfit has seen prominent partners Hugo Boss switch to Mercedes, while TAG Heuer will badge Red Bull’s Renault engines in 2016.

The Swiss watchmaker and Woking squad officially joined forces in 1985, though McLaren had started using TAG-branded Porsche engines as early as 1983. Dennis explains that the two ex-partners no longer shared the same philosophy in terms of sponsoring.

“Let's go to the one which has got phenomenal headlines, I don't know why, the TAG Heuer brand,” he said. “This is a brand that we've been associated with for a very long time.

“We actually had equity and involvement, I myself controlled the sales and marketing of that company in the early days, I was a shareholder in the company.

“It went through a variety of iterations, changes of ownership, and whilst the thread of history got pulled tighter and tighter, the current chief executive [Jean-Claude Biver] and I fundamentally disagreed about some things.

“I didn't share his view on his radical approach to sponsorship, which I thought was inappropriate for our brand, let alone his.

“There was a particular moment in Monte Carlo that I didn't particularly feel was positive. Plus that thread was taut, and the numbers declined over a period of time.”

The “particular moment” Dennis alludes to is famous model Cara Delevingne making an appearance at the Monaco Grand Prix clad in a flashy pink racing suit, with football star Cristiano Ronaldo also part of the TAG Heuer sponsor event (see picture).

The McLaren boss adds that the deal recently secured with sparkling wine product Chandon will help offset the impact of losing the historic partner.

“One thing you may not have realised is that the LVMH group [which also owns TAG Heuer] had within it another brand, which is the Hennessy Moet brand. I never give away numbers but I can tell you that our relationship under that brands is multiples more valuable than the financial situation with TAG Heuer.”

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