Longtime Ferrari Boss Might Be Working for McLaren

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo is one of the most important people in Ferrari’s history. He first worked for the Formula 1 team in the 1970s and joined the company again in 1991, becoming Enzo Ferrari’s successor. In his tenure, which lasted until 2014, Montezemolo oversaw a transformation in Ferrari’s road-car business and its most dominant period in F1. Now, it seems he’s working for Ferrari’s closest rival—McLaren.

A Reddit user noticed earlier today that Montezemolo was just listed as a director for McLaren Group Holdings Limited on Companies House, the British government agency that maintains a registry for companies in the country. We’ve reached out to McLaren Automotive for comment.

McLaren Group Holdings Limited controls McLaren Automotive, the road-car division of the famous British brand. Abu Dhabi investment firm CYVN Holdings purchased McLaren Automotive last December and merged it with Forseven, a UK EV startup it also owns. Last month, McLaren Automotive announced Forseven CEO Nick Collins would take over as chief executive for the supercar company. Collins was formerly head of R&D for Jaguar Land Rover.

As of right now, it seems like Montezemolo won’t have anything to do with McLaren’s F1 team, which is still controlled by the Bahrain-owned McLaren Group. 

Under Montezemolo’s tenure, Ferrari’s road car business went from malaise to the envy of the automotive industry. The cars that came out during his 13 years at the company are among the best it’s ever made—F355, 550, F50, Enzo, 599, 458, F12berlinetta, LaFerrari, and more. He also hugely boosted sales with the California while pushing more limited-run and one-off models too. 

CYVN wants to turn around McLaren Automotive’s business. With Montezemolo on board, it has someone that did the same with Ferrari with panache.