Ashurst has taken first place away from Norton Rose Fulbright by securing a lead legal adviser role for automotive company McLaren Group.

The firm announced it has been named official legal services partner for McLaren, a position previously held by Norton Rose, and said it will hold the role for several years.

The client relationship partner is corporate partner Rob Aird.

In 2017, Norton Rose had its partnership with the company extended for a further two years until 2019. But today, a spokesperson for the firm said: "We can confirm that our partnership with McLaren has concluded as of 31 December 2018."

Ashurst already had a relationship with the McLaren Automotive, the iconic sportscar and supercar company, and now extends to cover McLaren Group, the parent company, which also includes McLaren Racing and the McLaren Applied Technologies businesses globally.

McLaren Group group legal director and company secretary Tim Murnane said: "At McLaren we work in a fast-paced world of innovation, so in Ashurst we are delighted to have a partner who understands our different businesses and is agile enough to be able to respond to our growing needs."