Update

Mansour Ojjeh 1952-2021

Mansour Ojjeh, who has died aged 68, was a central figure in Porsche’s rousing return to F1 in the mid 1980s. Total 911 looks back on the partnership

Mansour Ojjeh had a French mother and was largely educated in France, finishing his studies in the US with a degree in business administration. His Syrian-born father, Akkram, who had made a fortune brokering deals between the Saudi and foreign governments, set up Techniques d’Avant Garde, TAG, in Geneva in 1975 in order to diversify from public sector contracts such as defence and armaments. He installed Mansour as director and it was clear that one of the missions of TAG was public relations, to present the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (then a mysterious oil-rich state) in a more open, positive light. It was through TAG that Mansour was introduced to F1: he agreed to sponsor the Williams F1 team – Frank’s cars would carry advertising for Saudia, the national airline.

Ojjeh became quite fascinated by the sport and was receptive to an approach from Ron Dennis of McLaren in 1982. Rather than sponsorship, Dennis was seeking a financial partner: at that time, F1 was moving from naturally aspirated