( dpa )- Ron Dennis will stay on as team boss at the McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team, British news reports said on Tuesday.
Dennis, 60, told team members before his departure to the Australian GP season-opener Sunday that he will not step down in the wake of a spying affair which cost the team all constructors points and a 100-million dollar fine in 2007.
The reports came amid speculation that Dennis would hand the reigns to team official Martin Whitmarsh and that Mercedes were set to take control at the team.
Dennis has been in charge of the team since 1980.