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 was 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.

--Reuters--