Speculation several months ago suggested that Apple had put together a takeover bid for McLaren, something that was denied at the time.

However, in an interview with news agency Reuters, McLaren Automotive’s chairman Mike Flewitt has revealed exactly what happened.

"There wasn't a bid from Apple," said Flewitt. "They visited. We talked. We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition.”

Interest in the future ownership of McLaren has accelerated in recent days, following a boardroom battle that resulted in the ousting of chairman Ron Dennis.

A recent story by Sky suggested that the move to get rid of Dennis came after fellow shareholders – the Bahraini investment fund Mumtalakat and Mansour Ojjeh – rejected a takeover offer from Chinese investors.

Flewitt confirmed that there had been interest from several parties about buying the team, but said the Bahrainis and Ojjeh were committed to keeping the current shareholding in place.

"There have been a number of bids," Flewitt said.

"I am comfortable with where our current shareholders are that they want to retain ownership of the company... They want to develop both companies. I genuinely believe they are very committed to them.”