Schumacher And McLaren: Would Not Happen Because Of Ron Dennis

LoL...

 

He was VERY nice to me in Indy this year. I was standing right outside the Conrad when he was about to walk in. He started to walk by and a yelled his name(like everyone else) and he posed for a picture and smiled at me. I guess he was just in a good mood.

 

Who ?

MS or RD ?

 

RD

 

i went to a talk Ron Dennis gave last year at the Oxford Union, only about 20 people in the room, very personal. hes a very interesting person, his ideas and thoughts on auto racing seem to be far different than Schumachers. Dennis likes "educated" drivers, like senna(he had a college degree? did he?) however Dennis himself said that Senna was sucking the company dry (money wise)... also Dennis is more into the team thinking, while Schumacher is more of an individual minded person when it comes to winning/racing, just FYI at Mclaren all trophies go to the team and no drivers keep them... anyways i dont see it as dennis is "mean" just far different view points racing wise

 

The problem was that Ron Dennis wouldn't kiss Michael's ass like Ferrari did. RD lets his 1 and 2 drivers race.

 

Yeah and look where it's gotten him. When Hakkinen was #1 at the team they won a couple of championships if I recall.

 

Yeah and he and DC were allowed to race. Mika was faster, he won. That's how it should be.

 

Therefore looking at just about all the time sheets during the races and qual times, Schumacher is #1 end of story. Buy the Nov. 2006 issue of F1 Racing
magazine,page 49 for more on this. Even with equal cars, Barrichello couldn't manage to keep up. Same at Honda.

 

There's a reason MS has won 7 WC and no one else has....it's because he's been better than anyone else. He was still fast but was burning out mentally according to MS in an interview. He's been on the F1 circus for 15 years, travelling throughout the world, including F1's expansion into the Middle East and Asia, is a household name throughout the world (except maybe the USA), has various business ventures, growing family, etc.

He's only human, getting older and was getting burnt out...easy for us to say he should have hung around but we don't walk in his shoes, do we??

I'm just happy I got to see him race...

 

Yeah but you've been expressing your displeasure with Michael and Ferrari with the whole, Barrichello moving over and letting Michael taking the win. The thing is, there have been times where DC has done the same thing for Mika. Hell, didn't Ron make sure that both DC and JV move over for Mika so he could take his first win? Let's not have a double standard here, one standard will do just fine lol.

 

Yes but it happened once, lol. How many times did Ferrari have a number two move over? Does anyone even know? I lost count.

 

Yes I agree with you and that is also the point, MS was clearly faster than any of his teammates. Why did he even need team orders.

 

Actually, it happend in back to back races. Jerez '97, when McLaren and Williams used team orders and agreed to let Mika thru to his first win after Michael retired. It also happened at the subsequent race in Melbourne where the McLarens dominated and DC was ordered into the pits from the race lead to allow Mika to win.

The pot calling the kettle black. Team orders have been used in F1 since the inception.

And Spa '98 is a whole 'nother discussion.

 

Yea, I noticed that when I saw a video on their new headquarters. I found it odd and thought it was assumed the drivers keep the race trophies and constructors keep the constructors trophies. Sometimes I wonder if any drivers care. Michael seems to be okay will selling any of his helmets and suits, but of course not his trophies. I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the reasons for him not to go to McLaren. Some people just love trophies (I can't blame them).

 

I, for one, doesn't agree with that opinion.
You have to see where Ron Dennis comes from: he was a F1 mechanic - I think he worked on Jochen Rindt's car at Brabham.
Look at him now! The principal of one of the most famous F1 team, second to Ferrari in terms of WC.
It takes a lot of effort, of commitment and determination to achieve that.
His style may not please everyone, but don't call him a jerk; ever Enzo Ferrari could be unsufferable at time.

 

The teams usually keep both and have a copy made for the driver if he wants one. Or it's in his contract that he gets to keep it or have a copy made at the teams cost.

 

In Prost's last race with McLaren, he dropped his trophy into the crowd where it was shattered. Dennis was pissed about that as the trophies are the property of the team. I don't know if Prost did it intentionally or if he was trying to drop the trophy into a team member's hands where it was accidentally broken.

 

It was at Monza where it had just been announced that he would be driving for Ferrari. The crowd was screaming for the cup and Prost, not knowing what to do, handed it to them. Ron was so pissed he slammed the constructor's cup at Prost's feet. Several years later Jo Ramierez arranged to have Prost give Ron Dennis a replica cup of the one that was lost.

 

Wow - I never knew the Prost story. That is wild. I admit Ron appears like he can be a prick, but I admire his style and what he has done.
How is he preceived in England?
KS

 

I assume the Germans love him, or else they wouldn't have given him the MercB support for the last 10 years.

RD must definetely get along with Nory Haug, the team wouldn't function properly if it wasn't so.

 

Schumacher said a lot of things in that interview that simply do not bear up to scrutiny. I take anything that comes out of that man's mouth with a grain of salt.

Ron Dennius arrogant? Perhaps. Ron Dennis a jerk? I don't think so. It takes a degree of toughness and perhaps ruthlessness to run an organization as vast as McLaren's in an environment as competitive as F1. Some may see his attitude as arrogant but I simply see him as a determined and competitive individual succeeding in an exceedingly difficult arena.

If you ask me, arrogant is the word I would use to describe the Ferrari team management in their dealings with the rest of F1. Todt's response to issues like the Austrian GP team orders debacle or Ferrari's refusal to adhere to testing limits as complete arrogance. There are times when Ferrari behaves as if they are bigger than the sport itself and that, to me, absolutely defines arrogance.

 

he thinks the drivers dont "deserve" the trophys alone because without the team, the driver wouldnt be there, its an entire team that won the trophy, without the (what maybe 1000's) involved in getting the team to each and every race, and development the driver would be nowhere...

i for one agree, and regarding the statement about dennis in the UK, i personally am not from the UK, but before i heard him talk i will admit i saw him as being in F1 for the money... but he is far far from that, he has massive amounts of passion for the sport just doesnt express, ever really... ha. in his talk he went on for a good hour about the teams role, and how if you didnt have the passion for the sport, you (in rons mind) were pretty much worthless, he did admit there was the super smart people who can come in, engineer anything, but they lack the passion, he hinted ever so slightly at adrian newy(sp) for going to redbull for $$$...

 

Very well put. How many times in meetings was it the Ferrari Management that went against the constructors, when it benefited the whole of F1? I think RD is a great team manager and someone who started from the bottom ranks and has become an icon of the sport. Like him or not.