Ron Dennis

I was surprised to see there wasn't already a thread about this most famous of (former) team principals.

Much has been said about Ron Dennis and his unique personality and approach, mostly taken with a pinch of salt and slight chuckle.
Well perhaps this article, by a former McLaren employee, will dispel some myths while simultaneously reinforcing others: http://f1elvis.com/2012/11/07/mr-ron-dennis-cbe/

(Alternative link: http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/magazine/?p=435)

Love him or loathe him, Dennis' tenure at McLaren will be remembered for a long time to come and it is inevitable that current and future team principals will be compared to him.
 
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Ah, the "Hamilton question" again! I understand that LH may be mentioned in reference to RD, but only in passing I would have thought.
 
RickD said:
racecub - I would never call Ron a liar, I don't particularly like Rons way of doing things, but there is no way I would question his integrity. .
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No nor would I. And I was a vigorous defender of his integrity during the spy gate saga. I don't believe for one minute Dennis lied and would never question his integrity. But I think he may see things differently to Leiws. And he would find it difficult to accept that Lewis didnt want to stay at Mclaren. Mind would not compute that.
 
racecub said:
You don't know that what Ron says is true.
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racecub - That is your quote, that to me says that you believe Ron lied. Although he may have had difficulty, Ron would definitly have thought about all angles and possibilities, it is the way he works. He has also had to deal with other drivers int he past that haven't had the smallest egos in the world, so this isn't a first for him.
 
@RickD Yes but I didn't mean he was telling an outright lie, I don't believe he'd do that. I meant he was seeing things from his perspective and making his comments from that perspective. He thought they could have kept Lewis. Thought being the operative word. But in fact he couldn't.. That doesn't mean Dennis lied and it doesn't mean I said he lied. A person can say something that is not true without intending to lie, he can do it from ignorance, from not having all the facts at hand, from an inability or desire to see things a certain way and probably other reasons.
Ps. Before you misinterpret my comments again let me just state that I am not saying Ron Dennis is ignorant!
 
racecub - If Ron had given in to the non numerical demands made by Lewis (whatever they were, none of us know what they were, so its all speculation, but there definitely were some, whether it be keeping trophies/media commitments or branding), then they probably could have kept him, but as Ron stated, he didn't see this as benificial to his company, therefore, they didn't keep Lewis.

I don't see why this is difficult to understand and whether he is seeing it from his perspective or not in that interview, I am very sure he looked at it from all angles, not just his own before he made the decision.
 
Which is perhaps why he is a bit miffed - being the control freak that he is reported to be. It is a bit of a slap in the face to your standard of excellence for a member of staff that you have long supported to leave because they don't think that your company measures up to their expectations.
 
I think Ron has both OCD and is a control freak. Remember hearing a story about him having the gravel in his drive lifted twice a year to have it washed. Not sure how true that is but I do know that the McLaren mechanics have new shoes for every race as they can't be washed like their pit uniforms.
 
Wow I didn't know that, what a waste. I saw the documentary about how the MP4-12C was made, in it the McLaren 'boulavard' had a cracked tile and had to be replaced, but the new one had a different grain and it always irked Dennis. Still it's this attention to detail that helped McLaren become an established front-running outfit.
 
I have a couple more stories, from an engineer friend that has worked with Ron quite a lot, not sure if I've mentioned them before.Both are about the MTC being built. First one, similar to FB,s example.When the drive was laid , it didn't lie completely flat, so the whole lot had to be lifted and done again. The second example is the windows, there's a lot of glass in the MTC. Ron didnt like the way the light reflected off them, they weren't smooth enough so the whole lot had to be re- done. Like you say, it's these traits that have also enabled him to build such a successful business so maybe we shouldn't knock him.
 

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