With a minute’s silence on Sunday in Baku, Formula 1 honored two deceased personalities: former FIA President Max Mosley and Mansour Ojjeh. The former was known beyond sport; the name of the latter was known only to die-hard F1 fans. But the Paris-born billionaire has massively influenced the sport from the sidelines, without ever seeking the personal fame it so undisputedly deserves.
Ojjeh, who died on Sunday morning at the age of 68, entered Formula 1 in 1978 through Frank Williams and his team of the same name. Weapons and real estate under the TAG banner and had close ties with the Saud family. Hence the birthplace of Mansour, although he later moved to Geneva.
When the royal family agreed to sponsor the then-struggling Williams through Saudia Airlines, they co-opted parties with which they shared commercial connections. One of these companies was Techniques d’Avant Garde – as TAG was officially called – and Mansour became the family’s contact with Williams. The team’s first title followed in 1980, and there is no doubt that Ojjeh enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Formula 1 despite not being in the limelight.
In 1983, Ojjeh took a call from Ron Dennis at McLaren, who was then looking for a supporter for a V6 turbo engine to be built by Porsche to the specifications of technical director John Barnard. Despite being a Williams sponsor, Ojjeh agreed to fund the project, provided the TAG Turbo logo appeared on the engine covers. A year later, the engine won the first of three consecutive drivers’ titles with Niki Lauda, followed by Alain Prost over the next two years.
Ojjeh’s TAG engines brought Lauda to his third and final F1 title. Never one who rested on his laurels. In 1985, Ojjeh acquired the iconic watch brand Heuer and renamed it TAG Heuer. It later became famous through a series of Ayrton Senna commercials with the slogan “Don’t crack under pressure”.
Shortly thereafter, Barnard left McLaren and Ojjeh bought his way into the team through nominated companies and increased his stake to 50%, together with Dennis. Ojjeh drove a number of “hot” bespoke cars, including a Porsche 911 powered by a street version of the TAG Turbo, and once suggested that Williams make a street sports car, which Frank refused.
Ojjeh had a McLaren supercar in his sights and explained his plan to Dennis and the new technical director Gordon Murray while the trio was stranded at Milan’s Linate Airport after the 1988 Italian Grand Prix. The result was the limited edition McLaren F1 road car, a modern icon. Success has many fathers and there is no doubt that Murray’s design genius and Dennis’ tenacious determination “made” the car, but Ojjeh’s dream and funding made what many still consider to be the best supercar in the world.
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The McLaren crew wore armbands in memory of Ojjeh in Baku. The racing team rewrote history – won 15 of 16 Grands Prix in 1988 (now powered by Honda) and won series titles with Senna and Prost – before it came to an idle time. Ojjeh’s funding and beliefs smoothed out the inevitable financial valleys that all racing teams suffered as the results rose and fell. McLaren’s survival as Formula 1’s second oldest team is largely due to his support. His fortune is estimated at £ 3 billion, never someone to flaunt his fortune.
Ojjeh’s greatest professional challenge was yet to come: Spygate, which fined McLaren $ 100 million after being found guilty of sports violations by the FIA, chaired by Mosley. By then, Ojjeh and Dennis had sold a total of 60% of the McLaren Group to Mercedes and the Bahrain State Fund – Ojjeh was friends with the island’s royal family – but it was he who diplomatically steered the ship.
Around this, Dennis and Ojjeh’s relationships froze, then froze – they never recovered, suggesting a deeply personal conflict – but he stuck to McLaren. In 2013 he underwent a double lung transplant – according to sources, the first attempt was unsuccessful, the operation was repeated – but reappeared in the paddock a year later, still courteous, polite and reserved as ever.
Ojjeh in 2018 Little did he know then that McLaren was heading for a disastrous time under Dennis – who had returned to the helm of the team after serving as head of the revitalized automotive division – and cars powered by Honda’s unsuccessful early hybrids. Dennis was ousted; Ojjeh and the Bahraini people have restructured the company, mostly by funding a switch to Renault engines, then recently to Mercedes.
Though unconfirmed, sources suggest it was Ojjeh who worked out McLaren’s reunification deal with Mercedes after it was rejected by executives on the latter team. Ojjeh knew Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz boss from his Swedish tenure as Mercedes Nominee Director on the McLaren Board of Management, and appealed directly. Deal made without which McLaren would still be at Renault.
As Ojjeh’s health deteriorated, he played a less visible role in the company, but his heart and mind were still involved and one can only imagine the joys he felt when McLaren’s resistance began. True, world titles are still a long way off, but it was when TAG first sponsored Williams in 1978.
I can’t claim to have known Mansour personally, I shook hands three times and nodded greetings a few times over the McLaren hospitality. But I remember a man whose courtesy and manners are reminiscent of times gone by and, above all, whose passion for F1 and McLaren remained unbroken, no matter what this moody of all sports got in his way.
He was a true enthusiast to the end, without whom McLaren would probably have gone down in history. Rest in Peace Mansour, your legacy is assured.
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