Ex-F1 team owner Eddie Jordan believes McLaren's shareholders wish former head honcho and "unsung hero" Ron Dennis was back in charge, insisting the team is currently "nowhere near where they were".
Dennis took over McLaren in 1980, when the F1 team was struggling for success and led the outfit to multiple world titles over three decades while also developing a successful road-car division under the famous name.
However, a gradual falling out with long-time friend and McLaren investor, the late Mansour Ojjeh, let to the Briton relinquishing his role with the F1 outfit and then with the McLaren Group altogether after his chairmanship contract with the company expired in early 2017.
Since, McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown has undertaken many restructuring initiatives and investments to help restore the team's former luster.
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However, in the wake of McLaren's poor start to its 2023 campaign in F1, Jordan reckons that long-standing team members and perhaps its shareholders now regret the good old days when Dennis was in charge.
"Ron was a perfectionist wasn’t he? He just had everything planned. He wanted the Sennas, he wanted the Prosts," Jordan said on the Formula For Success podcast hosted by David Coulthard.
"To be fair, we all laughed and joked, we took the mickey out of Ron a little bit because of how clinical he is, both in cleanliness and the way he prepares the car and the people.
"But I bet they wish they had him back. Because McLaren now are nowhere near where they were.
"You can say what you like, Ron Dennis was just fantastically dedicated and committed to his team and [he was] the unsung hero to the staff members and people."
For all his success at the helm of the team founded by Bruce McLaren, Ron Dennis also endured a few low points.
McLaren was fined $100m and stripped of its 2007 constructor's' points for the team's role in a Spygate saga which had seen members of McLaren colluding to obtain sensitive information and data from Ferrari.
Dennis's difficult personality and uncompromising approach led to fallouts with prominent team members over the years.
Former McLaren men Adrian Newey and Paddy Lowe parted ways with McLaren before enjoying overwhelming success elsewhere.
Finally, the Briton was also responsible for signing up Honda as its works engine partner at the end of 2014, a move that proved catastrophic for the Woking-based outfit and which led to the most unsuccessful period in the team's 60-year history.
Still, Coulthard – who raced under Dennis' orders at McLaren from 1996 to 2004 and who clinched all of his 13 career wins in F1 with the team – believes his former boss was a very misunderstood individual.
"Ron Dennis was, I think, misunderstood to the outside world," explained the Scot. "Because he was an incredibly caring individual to the team and took care of his team personnel if they had medical issues or their family had issues.
"He took care of them quietly, but in a great way because he understood the importance of the team."
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