Now we have the racing out of the way, the interesting part begins, the 'Stepneygate' affair still hangs over the sport.

It is my understanding that Michael Coughlan has been suspended by McLaren, not sacked. I believe that his contract expires at the end of the year and I would be surprised were it to be renewed. My guess is that the writs will fly in the new year.

Coughlan cannot claim unfair dismissal because he won't have been dismissed. His contract will have run out, that is what contracts are about. If Ron Dennis sues Coughlan to a trailer park I won't be surprised and I won't mind either.

Most people don't let you down, they take pride in their work. If you cannot take pride in what you do there is not much else left. It is pride, not love, that makes the world go round. It seems to me that Coughlan lost pride.

This year's McLaren was a very good car. Coughlan should now be soaking up the glory. He should now be negotiating a new contract with a pay hike. Instead, he is fearing what the post may bring.

Ron Dennis has been hurt, badly hurt, and this time it is not about the money. He has always run an honest team and he has been loyal to employees. You get a job with McLaren and there is no doubt about the expected standard. In return, people are treated with dignity, which is another way of expressing pride.

McLaren makes racing cars, but it operates a factory, which means there are cleaners, canteen staff, people mowing the grass. Inside the factory there are a lot of green plants, they make for a good atmosphere. They are tended by a local outfit that ensures they are fed and watered properly and there are no dead leaves. Pride is at stake.

Then there is the secretarial staff and the accountants. There are the people who run the in-house cinema where presentations to sponsors are made. It is a massive operation and Ron demands the best. Cleaning factory floors may not be the career you had in mind as a teenager, but the cleaners are part of the team and they know that they are the best. They have pride, they are part of the team.

There is a hierarchy of wages at McLaren, of course, but Ron has always included the lowest-paid, the invisible people doing a menial job. Cleaners at McLaren are paid cleaners' wages, plus pride.

When possible, before a Grand Prix, people are sent ahead to paint the McLaren pit garages. When the rest of the team arrive, they go into their work space. It is a detail, but Ron built McLaren by paying attention to detail.

When the McLaren F1 was due to be launched, prototypes operated from Goodwood House, which is close to where I live. Potential customers were given demonstration runs. By no stretch of the imagination was I a potential customer, but I blagged a ride and it was, 'Beam me up, Scottie', one moment you were here, the next you were there.

Not only were the prototypes valeted in the way you would expect, the insides of the exhaust pipes were cleaned. It is something you probably would not have noticed had it not been done, but you did notice when you saw it being done.