Dennis to make changes at McLaren after being appointed Group CEO

After the announcement, Dennis has vowed to bring change to McLaren to get it back to the front of the Formula 1 grid following a disappointing 2013 season.

AUTOSPORT understands that Dennis addressed factory staff in Woking on Thursday afternoon to outline his increased responsibilities to the F1 team.

He also made it clear that a new structure was likely to be put in place, and a change of team principal cannot be ruled out.

"There will be changes," he told the staff during the address that lasted for 20 minutes. "We will win again."

Current team boss Martin Whitmarsh, who was not present for the address, remains in charge for now and sources insist that no decision has been taken yet on whether or not he will be replaced.

A final call on the matter will however be made in February, when Dennis will outline whether Whitmarsh stays or if another figure will be appointed to run the F1 team.

Dennis, who was team principal from 1982 to 2009, has replaced Whitmarsh as the Group CEO with immediate effect.

In statement issued by the team, Dennis outlined that he had been appointed to the role with the mandate of doing whatever is necessary to get McLaren back on track.

"My fellow shareholders have mandated me to write an exciting new chapter in the story of McLaren, beginning by improving our on-track and off-track performance," he said.

"Over the coming weeks I intend to undertake a thorough and objective review of each of our businesses with the intention of optimising every aspect of our existing operations, whilst identifying new areas of growth that capitalise on our technologies, and where appropriate further investing in them."