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Some people are born winners—no matter what they choose to do in life, they find a way to be successful.

McLaren CEO Ron Dennis is one of those people. His team may be down right now, but if anyone can find a way to lead them back to the top of Formula One, it is Dennis.

Since he took over the McLaren team at the end of 1980, they have been one of the most successful Formula One constructors. In fact, since 1981, Dennis' first full season at the helm, McLaren have won 17 titles, more than any other team on the grid (Ferrari are second with 16).

But their last championship came in 2008, just before Dennis handed off his team principal role to Martin Whitmarsh. After the team failed to secure even one podium finish in 2013, Dennis announced his return for the following season.

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Since then, he has shown a refreshing willingness to set aside his own ego in pursuit of victory. Although perhaps that is not surprising, given Dennis' need to win—in a 2012 interview with Motor Sport's Simon Taylor, he admitted to feeling "acute pain" when McLaren doesn't win a race.

Most notably, Dennis reconciled with Fernando Alonso—sixth on the all-time grand prix winners' list—who had a stormy one-year run at McLaren in 2007. That reconciliation paved the way for Alonso's return to the team for 2015 alongside Jenson Button, giving McLaren one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid.

Dennis also brought in Eric Boullier, fresh from a successful four-year stint as Lotus team principal, as sporting director, and negotiated the return of Red Bull's head of aerodynamics, Peter Prodromou. But so far, despite Dennis' personnel manoeuvres, the team has continued to struggle.

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Although the second Dennis era got off to a flying start with Kevin Magnussen and Button finishing second and third at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, the team limped to a second-straight fifth-place finish in the constructors' championship.

Also, despite repeated promises, a new title sponsor has yet to be signed. That problem is no doubt exacerbated by the fact that it has been more than two years since McLaren's last victory.

Meanwhile, the 2015 season has been a disaster so far. Alonso was injured in a freak accident during preseason testing and was forced to miss the first race of the year, while McLaren's new Honda engine has proved neither powerful nor reliable.

At the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, both McLarens qualified at the back of the field and then Magnussen's engine blew up on the way to the starting grid. Button finished the race, but he was dead last among the finishers, two laps down on the winning cars.

That is the bad news.

The good news is that all of those problems can be fixed. With his new signings and one of the largest budgets in the sport, Dennis has put McLaren in a position to succeed again.

Alonso will recover, Honda will continue to develop their engine, and sponsors will return once the team shows it can be competitive again.

In Australia, Button was optimistic about the new car, saying, per ESPN F1:

The basic philosophy and idea of the aerodynamics and how it works is definitely right. I haven't driven a McLaren like this before, not in the way that it works. I'm not saying it's the quickest McLaren I have ever driven, because it's not, but in the way that it works the basic car is very good and it means we can build on it.

The return of Honda was always going to be a long-term project. Despite the connections immediately drawn with the McLaren-Hondas that won four championships from 1988 to 1991, nostalgia does not win races.

The new hybrid V6 power units are the most complex engines ever seen in F1, and it will take Honda time to catch Mercedes and the other manufacturers who have a year of racing data and development to build on. And when they do catch up, McLaren will reap the benefits as Honda's de facto works team, building their chassis and power unit side-by-side.

Dennis may not be as well-known for his patience as he is for his perfectionism, but patience is what is required at McLaren now.

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For three years, from 1994 to 1996, McLaren did not win a single grand prix. In 1997, they finished fourth in the constructors' championship for the fourth consecutive season.

But Dennis' patience, particularly with his No. 1 driver, Mika Hakkinen, was rewarded when the Finn won the 1998 and 1999 drivers' titles and McLaren took the constructors' title in 1998.

Assuming Honda do not come up with dramatic improvements in the next few months, this will be McLaren's third straight season without a victory. But in a couple of years—well, Dennis sounds like he has the right mix of patience and confidence.

Last month, per NBC Sports' Luke Smith, the McLaren CEO declared: "I hope to be stood here in the not too distant future celebrating the world championships that I’m very confident we will win together, given some time."

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