Conflicting Reports

Over the last few days there has been some conflicting reports about when Ron Dennis informed Hamilton of his decision to step down.

Autosport have run an article on their site claiming that Hamilton knew before Christmas of the plan. Other sites, such as Crash.net and ITV-F1.com have run with a different take on it, stating that Hamilton only knew ‘minutes’ before it was publically announced.

In my opinion, there can only be one realistic answer – the one offered by Autosport. This isn’t a slight against ITV-F1, who I’ve long poked at the inadequate coverage of, but just simple common sense.

Ron Dennis was a father-like figure during the career of Lewis Hamilton. He has nurtured him from aspiring go-kart racer to Formula One world champion. Over the past two years, Dennis has staunchly stood by his driver no matter what, even against some vicious media criticisms.

Now you want us to believe that Ron Dennis, just ‘minutes’ before publically announcing he was stepping down, decided to tell Hamilton.

Not a chance!

Having watched over the career of Hamilton, Ron Dennis would not risk putting a few bumps in his young chargers mental state as he prepares for his title defence. Between the new rules, coping with being a champion and the massive expectation that Hamilton has on his shoulders, there is no way that Dennis would just add another burden to him.

That is why I would side with the facts offered by the Autosport article. I would be highly surprised to find out if down the line, we hear more facts stating that the other articles were on the money. While I’m not discounting such an occurrence, I find it highly improbable.

Dennis to step down as McLaren launch

Ron Dennis has announced he is stepping down from the position of team principal of McLaren, as the team launched their 2009 contender. Dennis will focus on other projects within the McLaren group, handing the reigns over to his right-hand man, Martin Whitmarsh.

I try to be as impartial as possible when I am writing this blog. I don’t believe in writing for one side only. There is too much of that in the media as it is in this day and age. Even to those that I am not a genuine fan of, over the past few years I have given the fair crack of the whip when writing here.

But for Ron Dennis, I find that very hard. Ever since I first started watching this sport, he has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think he is probably the single greatest reason I never found myself pulling for a McLaren to win, even when they had drivers that I supported.

Most of memories of him are is excuses. It’s his fault, it’s their fault. That is all I can remember him saying whenever McLaren lost a race. There was always an excuse, never a ‘we got beaten by the better man’. From the interviews I have seen of him, he has always seemed too smug, cocky, and arrogant. It actually came to the point where if he was to be interviewed, I would just change the channel, rather than listen to the stories he would concoct.

The decision has been a long time coming. After the Spy-gate scandal, it was rumoured that he would step down. These rumours persisted right up until the first grand prix of the year. A number of media outlets suggested that the reason McLaren were bumped around in the pit-lane order was due to an ‘agreement’ that would have seen him step down.

Towards the end of the season, he hinted that if Hamilton won the title, he would step the wayside. Such a decision made perfect sense. Dennis has been a father-like figure to the world champion. He has seen him going from karting protégé to Formula One world champion. Leaving on a high is always the way someone would like to end a chapter of their life.

Pictures of the new McLaren can be found on Autosport here.

Money makes the world go round

With all the talk about Sato and Bourdais trying to scrounge up funds to get a seat at Toro Rosso, it definitely reinforces the idea that heads clashed at the team over driver policy.

Back in May, the former driver spoke out about his desire not to employ chequebook drivers in the team. Granted, the economic climate has changed since, but given the amount of talk about the prospects having to bring money to the table, one can't help but wonder. (see: Chequebook Drivers? No Thanks!)

McLaren have joined Ferrari in calling for a postponement of the KERS system because of the cost of the system. The top-two could also have an ulterior motive for it, given that both would have had to delay work on their 2009 whilst others got the train early.

Of course, many in forums alluded to such when Ferrari made the call with the all too familiar Ferrari 'whinging'. I wonder how these same people will perceive McLaren's stance on it. I can see this issue splitting into two camps. I don't see those who already have a system in place willing to play ball.

Speaking of McLaren, team principal Ron Dennis has commented about Honda and it's Earth Dream concept, more or less saying what I have for two years now. So it has taken two years for people to notice this. And for some reason I don't have any official job in the sport.

Ending on a happy note, major props to Nascar's Jeff Gordon, who said he is willing to take a pay cut for the betterment of his team. In tough times, cuts need to be made. The biggest problem is, it is often hard to take back what is already given. People in all sectors are bitching and moaning about not wanting to even freeze their salaries until the skies clear.

With all this selfishness , Gordon's gesture is one I hope everyone, not just in the sports world, will take not of. Whether it be motorsport, football or any other sport - the money handed out has risen to a ridiculous level.

Make Up Your Mind!

Over the past week, we seem to be getting a lot of confusion statements out of the McLaren camp.

First off, we got the ‘oh, my neck hurt and I nearly didn’t race’ excuse. Yes, that’s right. I used the word excuse! If you’re hurt and sick, then say it before the weekend, not after it when you have been comprehensively beaten. It just makes you look weak.

Then McLaren hammered on about being conservative, that they just had to wait for Ferrari to slip up. But, before the race, Hamilton was all ‘I’m never going to let myself get beaten again’ like he was at Hungary. This is the same guy who claims he races to win and nothing else will do. Why the sudden change in strategy?

Waiting for something else to happen is not only lazy, but dangerous. You have to make your own destiny. There is every chance that Ferrari overcome their problems and if is Lewis is in Sunday drive mode, he could lose his shot at the title.

After the whole we were taking it easy story, there was another, where Hamilton a basically said that he was pushing his ass off, and he still couldn’t catch Massa. This completely contradicts what he and McLaren said post-race. Nothing new from the boys in silver.

Ron Dennis, who he himself is stuck a will he, won’t he tug of war with himself about retirement, chimed in stating that Lewis is the best driver in F1 today. If I was trying to talk my driver as the best driver today, I would point out to his awesome drives, even those he didn’t win, to prove how great he is. Alas, Dennis went to the stats book. You don’t judge how great a driver is after two years. Let him grow, mature, see how he does over time and then say that. Oh, and Ron, the car matters. You may think it’s not, but when you have one of the best cars in Formula One, it does.

Which leads us to the final statement of the week – so far, although I don’t think the press offices do much business on a weekend. Lewis stating that he isn’t number two to anyone, including Schumacher. Sure, just when we think your ego can’t get any bigger – you go for the death star sized ego. Well done! This ties in with the point above. It takes a lot of audacity to compare yourself to a seven-time world champion, who smashed practically every record in the books.

Don’t get me wrong, Hamilton has an abundance of talent, something I have nothing but respect for. He may very well achieve the same sort of success as the German. But keep your tongue in your mouth and just drive. Maybe it’s the final run-in; he’s like an excited kid waiting for Christmas. He can’t hold in his excitement and suddenly all this ego enhancing dribble comes running out. It was the same last year, when he stuck his nose into the spy-gate affair when he really didn’t need to.

Let your driver do the talking.

The Good, the Bad and the Racing

Over the last few days we’ve seen the two faces of McLaren. The good in the signing of Heikki Kovalainen to partner Hamilton. The fact that Heikki was left out in the cold at Renault was eye catching, given how he outpaced Fisichella for the majority of the year. One of the rumours going around is that Heikki was dropped because he was considered too fast for Alonso who is out to avoid a 2007 repeat. He must not remember that Piquet Junior did finish second to Hamilton in GP2 and I doubt he will be keen to lie down given the opportunity.

With the freedom of Kovalainen, he was the obvious choice for the second McLaren seat. I’m sure fans of the Finn were getting a little worried that de la Rosa, with his Spanish connections to many sponsors who joined because of Alonso would get the nod. Nice to see McLaren do the right thing and bring in a top driver who will hopefully push Hamilton and bring the most out of both drivers.

Of course we saw the bad of McLaren over the weekend as well with an admission (finally) over the Stepney-gate issue. A statement claimed that dissemination (in English – transmitting) of Ferrari data went deeper than originally though. They have stopped development on three parts that could be potentially linked back to Ferrari data. It makes the FIA’s decision to wait till February to clear the McLaren 2008 car more prudent now. It’s possible the FIA stewards found something and have given McLaren an opportunity to rectify the problem.

The statement has led to calls for the head of Ron Dennis. Personally, I would be happy if this was the end of someone who whinges anytime his team got beaten. End of the day the buck stops with him. He staked his reputation on his team been clean and playing by the rules and the statement appears to be nothing but an admission of guilt. Will he survive this? Time will tell. Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end of this spy fiasco once and for all so we can go racing clean again.

Race of Champions was on this weekend in Wembley – an event I unfortunately missed due to television issues. That was a shame because I was looking forward to the crème of racing talent going at it, especially to see Schumacher racing again for fun. If the go-kart racing in Brazil was anything to go by it would’ve been a treat. Funny thing I noted was that the Brits were selling up the prospect of Hamilton been there to race Schumacher months back. But come the event there wasn’t a peep and no Hamilton, out because of a sponsorship commitment or something similar. After all the chat about the prospect of him been there one would think they would bother to say ‘oh, he actually isn’t coming – maybe next year.’ Should be able to catch a highlights show of it somewhere.

Speaking of Schumacher, it would appear he has found a part-time hobby as a taxi driver. Running late for a plane the champ took over from the taxi driver and drove to the airport. Bloody hilarious that and decent of him to give a generous tip. The taxi driver will have a story to tell his kids. That been said, how proud of his own driving can he be when he had to give up the seat? This is one of the stories that are a bit surreal. It’s the sort of story you would think ‘I wonder what they a racing driver would do in such a situation’ and it was just great to see Schumi take the bull by the horns.

Catching Up

So back to Formula One related bits! Been a bit quiet on reporting on that front. A mix of reading aplenty on a number of topics and been a little bit worse for wear!

The FIA did in fact release the full documents regarding the Spy-gate hearings. Been meaning to get around to reading them all. It's on the 'to-do' list! Hopefully I'll get the time and plenty of Headex tablets to go through it all with a fine tooth comb to see how it really went down.
I'm not going to touch on the decisions made and the penalties handed down. They have been done to death. Everyone has their view on it and at this stage, has probably let it be known!

McLaren got penalised. They accepted it. Too harsh? Too lenient? Just right? Well everyone has their view. Mosley hasn't been too shy in lashing out at those casting them, quite rightly, at those who haven't view the situation as a whole. That's why I've been careful to put my view down. His comments on Jackie Stewart, well, it will be interesting to see how they play out. Calling him a 'half wit' and taking a pop at his dress ethic. Interesting attack from Mosley. We haven't heard the last between these two!

From it we did learn more about the degradation of the Alonso-Dennis relationship. How bad things have gotten between the pair is truly shocking. Actually I'm surprised Dennis hasn't sacked him yet. He has a record of been a no bull sort of guy. Case in point, look at Montoya. Fernando must have one hefty severance payout if he was to be ditched. If you are not even on talking terms with your boss, well, you're as good as done.

McLaren promise that each driver will be treated equally throughout the title run-in. Though if Alonso's car just happens to fall to pieces in the final three I think you will hear shouts of a conspiracy.
Expect the bitter divorce over the next few months.

Where he goes is the key to the driver market. Most of the talk says Renault but this week has seen rumours of a move to Ferrari. The move logically makes sense. Alonso wants to win races and championships. Ferrari is the only team apart from McLaren that can offer that for sure in 2008. What I don't get is how he thinks he will get a better deal. Alonso's issue at McLaren stems from not getting the coveted 'number one' status at the team. Can he expect that at Ferrari? Somehow I don't think Kimi Raikkonen is going to let him have it. He would come in on equal footing which could lead to same issues again.

So all roads appear to lead to Renault. A homecoming for Alonso. While they have struggled in 2008 a return for Alonso would not be all that bad. The team has the foundations that won two world titles and by now will know how to work out most of the kinks that have lead to a struggle this year. But can they provide him with a title contender. That is a question that remains unanswered and will weigh on Alonso's mind.

Speaking of Renault, Fisichella's attempt to force the teams hand to announce their driver line-up failed. The Italian talked big for a number of weeks before Monza that he expected an announcement of his re-signing by then. Italy has come and gone. Now Renault has said that they won't announce anything until Alonso finds his home. Nothing less than what I expected. Fisichella knows he is on borrowed time. Over the past months he has been blown away, regardless of his excuses, by Kovalainen. Heikki is almost a dead cert at this stage for one of the seats. Fisichella's failing form will put him danger of losing his seat regardless of where Alonso ends up.

In an unrelated F1 news topic, congrats to Casey Stoner for winning the MotoGP title. The Aussie takes the title in only his second season and secured the first championship for Ducati and Bridgestone. Stoner has been fantastic, if sometimes mouthy during the season. Not quite as bad as Rossi who spent altogether too much time whinging that he couldn't get the 'custom-made for the conditions' tires from Michelin on the Saturday morning after Friday practice. Yes, that's not fair at all is it Michelin riders. It's a shame that, like past seasons in Formula One there is more talk about tires than there is about the performance of those involved.

Team Fireworks

Usually Hungary (contrary to the ever declining ITV Sport commentary team) is a snore bore of a race. This one really was no different with all the sparks happening on Saturday.

I would hate to be Ron Dennis at this time, trying to manage the egos in his team. Yeah that’s right, I said egos. Not ego. Allot of people have been quick to rap Alonso on forums, but its time for people to realize that Hamilton’s ego is just as big. He broke team orders. Maybe I should repeat that because obviously some people only see what they want to see and with Hamilton, they like to pretend he’s perfect. (I point back to the ‘monkey’ comment at Monaco that was also swept under the carpet.)

In a team like McLaren you don’t have an ego. That is why Montoya got the sack. McLaren are a team that values the constructors and teamwork over the individual and right now, they only have two individuals in the team. Hamilton’s excuse that he was worried about letting Kimi through was weak at best. This is a track that is often labelled as the ‘Monaco without barriers’ with only one clear line and hard to overtake. Now we have Hamilton claiming there was no way he could have let Alonso by without letting Kimi through? Pretty poor excuse Lewis.

Does that excuse Alonso’s actions later on the session? Not really but it was funny to watch! It was disappointing to see the stewards get in the middle of what is a team problem. I would have loved to see Alonso versus Hamilton into the first corner yesterday. Especially given how the relationship is between the pair. The decision ruined a good race with Alonso unable to get up front. Given that it was McLaren’s Mickey Mousing that caused all of this both drivers should’ve gotten penalized and not just one.

Neither can rely on each other and with Ferrari almost out of the title picture now it is going to be a tense run-in. It will be interesting to watch.