Ron Dennis speaks up

Hope you don't mind but it was irresistible!:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

LOLOLOLOL!!!!! OH my great find LOL!

 

So Jenson Button lives in the building beside mine in Monaco. I saw him on Tuesday with his suitcase waiting for the taxi to go to the airport for Abu Dhabi GP.

I thought to myself why bother? lol

 

I imagine he'd like to be paid......

 

Hilarious

 

Might just like driving race cars!

 

How about: Because it's his job!

 

...he still gets to compete against Alonso - one of the best....provided one of their cars doesn't explode ; )

 

Now I get it!

Of course! - He's got a bet going with Alonso as to which McLaren can go the furthest into the Abu Dhabi race before the engine let's go!

 

I know there are both a lot of Hamilton lovers and haters on here. I will say that I am neutral myself but at least Hamilton lives the life of a superstar race car driver and not some corporate robot. Good on him.
He reminds me of the Nascar driver Jeff Gordon who just retired. Jeff has been living, horror of horrors, in New York City and the Hamptons now for the last few years while attending many social functions as he transitions away from motorsports and into his next life. Good on him

 

not sure it's bitter - I believe at the time McLaren's demands for time/sponsorship commitments/lifestyle were talked about as one of the reasons Lewis chose Mercedes.

Given the 'passion' his lifestyle has provoked here, not surprising Ron might wish to avoid that in selling personality.

 

Duh!!!!!

Ron wanted to parade Hamilton around the world like a prized show dog so he could keep pushing the McLaren brand for sponsorship money and to sell cars.

Lewis had enough of his master's demands and said FU, I have a life too.

 

IMO, Ron Dennis is yesterday's news. The days of micromanaging are over. Yes, there are lines, i think sportsmen should not cross, as like it or not, they set examples to younger ones.

However, these guys are humans too. They need to let go and let loose once in a while. The problem is, Ron is a control freak, something that worked 10-20 years ago. But not today. I don't even understand what the issue is here. He has a problem with Hamilton's personal life? For goodness sake..he's winning on the track, and just became a champion, and he still has a problem with that? No wonder Mclaren are in the wilderness..

 

Well said

 

Maybe he doesn't like the thick gold chains Lewis was sporting in the practice one interview.

 

+1

 

Lewis Hamilton has responded to Ron Dennis' comments by saying (From: It's not me that needs to change, Hamilton tells Dennis - Formula 1 - Eurosport Australia ):

"Why he is talking about me, I don't know," said the driver. "Maybe they don't have too many other positive things to talk about.

"Ultimately, that's probably why I'm here and a three times world champion. Who I am today is who I am and I would behave this way regardless of who I was working for. I don't feel like I behave wrongly.

"Just because I do other things outside of the sport I don't think it's a negative, it's obviously been a positive impact on my career," added the driver, who won his first title for McLaren in 2008.

"Maybe it's not me that needs to do any changes."




Ron Dennis has also tried to clarify what he meant with his comments:

"None of what I said was anything other than positive," he said. "Lewis is unique, Lewis is living the way he currently wants his life to be...I'm fond of Lewis.

"If he was in the team I'm sure he would feel constrained and I'm sure he feels very free at the moment. It's not for me to judge which is the right way.

"I just feel there are ways you do things in McLaren and there's things that you do inside McLaren that are or are not acceptable. Some of those things (that Hamilton does) are at best on the edge. "



The article also states:

Dennis, speaking at a marketing event in London last week without realising the media were present, voiced disapproval of some aspects of Hamilton's behaviour since he departed in 2012.

Which if true, doesn't put The Guardian in a very good light in trying to make out that they had an Exclusive interview with Dennis (From: Dennis "doesn't approve" of Hamilton's lifestyle ) :

"If he was at McLaren he wouldn't be behaving the way he is because he wouldn't be allowed to," Dennis told the Guardian.

It sounds to Me as if either someone from The Guardian was listening in on a conversation Ron was having with someone else and decided to print it - pretending that it was an exclusive interview with them in person, or Ron was speaking to someone he didn't know was from The Guardian and they decided to print it, pretending that it was an exclusive interview (both typical tricks of the press!).

(It may even have been that a third party not associated directly with The Guardian had a conversation with Ron Dennis and then "gave" the story to The Guardian!)

 

Foot in mouth Ron? For someone who has always chosen his words so very cautiously Ron seems to have "gone fishing".

 

Can't say I see it that way TBH.

I think he was just being honest enough to say that had Hamilton still been a McLaren driver then they would have been far more restrictive with him than Mercedes are, and that he personally doesn't particularly like the way Hamilton is living his life.

You need to remember that Hamilton was Ron's protégé and he had a definitive idea of how he wanted Hamilton to turn out and live his life, and Hamilton's off-track lifestyle now is almost opposite to what Ron Dennis had envisaged.

At the end of the day, Ron's attempt to mould Hamilton into what he wanted him to be was just unrealistic, especially in light of Hamilton's personality. Basically, Hamilton wanted to be his own person, what he wants to be and not what Ron wants him to be.

As for his criticism of Hamilton's life style, he's hardly the first person to criticise it is he now?

Had Hamilton taken up his current life style and not won any more Championships then just about everybody would have been slating him for wasting his talent for the celebrity lifestyle, but as it is, his lifestyle has made him more relaxed and he has the Championships as well to prove that he's not simply wasted his talent at the same time.

 

That's true. But you are missing the point here. Whatever fine print or terms in the contract might have worked a few years ago. Not today.

As a driver, you bring the results in, behave well and don't get into the headlines for wrong reasons, I have no idea what the issue is. For me, this is just sour grapes from Ron. He's still can't believe how his protege is doing so well in a rival team.

 

If McLaren are Not front runners in 2017 Then Ron needs to step down for the teams own good

 

Fixed

This weekend with his remarks he's been able to upset just Hamilton, Alonso, Magnussen, Honda, Red Bull, Mercedes' management and God knows who else. I think he's finally lost it.