McLaren F1 Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh On Way Out As Team Prepares For '14 Season

McLaren's F1 team is expected to announce that Team Principal MARTIN WHITMARSH’s career "is over," according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES. Britain’s most successful F1 team launched its car for '14, but this season "Whitmarsh will be missing for the first time in 25 years." Speculation that Whitmarsh’s time at McLaren had come to an end was sparked by RON DENNIS' move to CEO, "replacing the man who was for so long his protégé." The writing "was on the wall last year, though, as McLaren failed to record a podium finish." Whitmarsh "has not been seen around McLaren’s vast factory complex in Woking, England, since Dennis announced his return to the front line to his workforce last week." Dennis "will not run his team full-time and he is likely to keep F1 guessing as to who will be the second-in-command." There "has been intense speculation" that Sporting Dir SAM MICHAEL "would be taking over" (LONDON TIMES, 1/23).