Former Ferrari boss Montezemolo becomes a McLaren Group director

Former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has joined the board of historic rival McLaren, a move that would have been unimaginable not so long ago.

A filing with Companies House by Abu Dhabi-owned McLaren Group Holdings, which controls Woking-based sportscar maker McLaren Automotive, registered Montezemolo as a director on June 27.

The 77-year-old Italian joined Ferrari in 1973 as founder Enzo Ferrari's assistant and became team manager in 1974, a year before the late Austrian triple champion Niki Lauda secured his first title.

He also presided over the Formula One team during a golden era when Michael Schumacher won five of his career seven titles between 2000-2004 and served as chairman of both Ferrari and parent FIAT.

McLaren and Ferrari, the two oldest and most successful teams in Formula One history, have been rivals for decades and were involved in a notorious 'Spygate' scandal that erupted in 2007.

British-based McLaren were stripped of all their championship points and fined a record $100 million over a dossier of stolen Ferrari technical documents found in the possession of McLaren's chief designer.

Both Ferrari and McLaren are under different management now, with Montezemolo resigning his roles at the Italian luxury sportscar maker in 2014 and focusing on other business interests.

CYVN, majority-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, created McLaren Group Holdings in April after completing its acquisition of McLaren Automotive.

The group includes a non-controlling stake in McLaren Racing, the Formula One team whose majority shareholder is Bahrain's Mumtalakat and which operates completely independently.

Paul Walsh, executive chairman of McLaren Racing, is also one of the nine directors of McLaren Group Holdings, while McLaren team principal Andrea Stella previously worked for Ferrari.

McLaren are the reigning Formula One constructors' world champions while Ferrari last won a title in 2008. Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton, who took his first title for McLaren in 2008, is now driving for Ferrari.

News of Montezemolo's new role was greeted with some amazement in Italy.

"Montezemolo-McLaren: What a slap in the face to Ferrari," said sports newspaper Tuttosport in a headline.

ANSA news agency quoted Montezemolo as saying his heart "is and always will be red" and his new role was on the automotive side and did not involve Formula One.