Ok, Ok, it's a Photoshop, and a poor one at that, but according to Ron Dennis this unbelievable scenario - Michael Schumacher at McLaren - came close to becoming reality.

Talking to journalists today at a pre-season meet-the-media luncheon, Dennis revealed that over five years ago - he couldn't remember exactly - McLaren could have had Michael on board.

Dennis said that talks took place in Monte Carlo, at a time when Ferrari wasn't performing well: "We had discussions," admitted the Englishman, "and there was genuine interest on both sides, I believe that he could have come to us.

"Money wasn't an issue," he added. "It just basically didn't happen. We went away and thought about it and we decided not to make an offer."

At a time when there are reports of a Hollywood movie being made about the life of the legendary Gilles Villeneuve, it's worth remembering when McLaren missed out on another Ferrari star, though at that time money was the issue.

Prior to the 1980 season, Teddy Mayer asked Gilles' close friend John Lane to approach the Ferrari star in an effort to secure his services for McLaren in the 1980 Championship.

"Gilles turned down the offer and characteristically opted to serve out his contract with Ferrari," John remembers. "After the Canadian GP in '81, Mayer together with Ron Dennis again asked me to act as 'go-between' in negotiations. The financial side of the deal was carried out via pit signals, with Ron Dennis putting out a bid of 2.5m on the pit board. Gilles casually walked over, removed the '2' and replaced it with a '3'.. 3.5m."