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Out of the shadows

NEWS STORY
02/09/2013

As his company celebrates its 50th birthday, Ron Dennis steps into the spotlight once again, to talk of things McLaren.

By the time he took control of the company in the 1980s, it had won world championships with Emerson Fittipaldi (1974) and James Hunt (1976) and was an established contender, despite having faded somewhat from 1978 onwards.

Today, the Woking outfit is seen as one of the sport's grandees, with twelve drivers' titles to its name, eight constructors' titles and 182 wins, a record eclipsed only by Ferrari.

"McLaren had won world championships with Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt, they then failed to get to grips with ground-effect technology, had a few mediocre years, but were down rather than out. However, I understood what McLaren could do when they had a strong car, as had been demonstrated by the strong performances of the M23 in the hands of both Emerson and James.

"I was busy running my own race teams during the late 1970s - my teams were running in Formula 2 and Formula 3 and were building and racing ProCars for BMW - so there wasn't a lot of time for me to reflect on what was happening in Formula 1, even though it was resolutely my target to get into grand prix racing in the not-too-distant future.

"In terms of Bruce McLaren himself, I didn't really know him, as our paths didn't really cross," admits Dennis," but, of course he and I were in F1 at the same time. I started at Cooper's in 1966, the same year he brought Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd into F1 - so I like to think there's a nice symmetry there.

"I was always and I still am relentlessly competitive," he continues. "When I came back to F1 in 1981 I wanted to do my own thing and I had no interest in following the established convention. That approach may have seemed brave - or foolhardy - but, as with most things at that time, it was born of necessity. There was no time to step back and conduct any detailed analysis of the situation. Within the first few months of working with John Barnard, he convinced me that an all carbon monocoque would work and I had faith in our ability to get it done. So we just pushed ahead.

"Once we'd established the team and tasted some initial success, I think I was able more effectively to quantify what had set us apart - the standards of preparation, the focus on the detail - and we already had a head-start on the opposition to maintain and refine that mindset. So the 1980s were really about a singular approach - find the very best elements, and make them successful through endless preparation, analysis and research. There was no secret - it was just huge ambition backed by a lot of hard work."

In his time, Dennis has employed some of the sport's very finest drivers at McLaren, including a man who is very much in the new at present as we await the release of the movie Rush, the story of Niki Lauda's epic duel with Hunt for the 1976 crown.

"I'd worked with Niki back in 1979 when we were building ProCars for BMW," says Dennis, "so I'd got to know him a little. I spent a lot of time in 1981, trying to coax him out of retirement, get him back into F1, behind the wheel of a McLaren. Of course, everyone now knows the outcome of those overtures - in 1982 Niki returned from his retirement, won the third race of that season, and took his third, and final, drivers' world championship in 1984. By anyone's standards, that was a pretty good comeback.

"For me, though, what really set Niki apart was his preparation, his analysis, and his ability to study the assets available to him and to know how best to use and exploit them to his advantage. He was very thorough. His attitudes and abilities meshed so well with McLaren at that time, too, because we were developing, and winning races and championships, and Niki's mindset was a constant reminder that we needed to maximise everything to remain at the competitive forefront."

Then, of course, there was the pairing of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna who between them won six drivers' world championships for McLaren.

"There's a common feeling that working with Alain and Ayrton was like managing fire and ice; it wasn't," insists Dennis. "In many respects, they were very similar - both had insecurities, both were incredibly competitive, both desperately wanted to win - and both knew that their biggest opponent was stationed in the garage alongside them, which led to a certain amount of understandable paranoia.

"Alain was very similar to Niki in terms of his preparation. He was fastidious and fussy about what he wanted from his car, and he derived his successes as much from his diligence as from his outright speed. He may have come across as the more relaxed of the pair, but in reality he was incessantly lobbying for a competitive advantage.

"Throughout all of this, you have to understand that it's what we pay racing drivers to be like: show me a satisfied racing driver and I'll show you a loser. If a driver isn't asking questions about understeer or oversteer, or about a lack of balance or poor traction, then he's not driving fast enough. I like racing drivers who aren't afraid to be vocal in meetings and debriefs.

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by Don_lyall, 02/09/2013 23:25

"Props for the "Today, we aren't currently achieving as much on-track success as we'd like". No bollocks, head-on. Just typical luck, too, given McLaren have won at least one race every season bar one (so far) since 1997. Amazing.

Genuinely cracking read. "

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2. Posted by Don_lyall, 02/09/2013 23:13

"Amazing; what's so striking is the lack of a 'silver-spoon' manufacturer backing them. It's not like Ferrari or Mercedes, where one arm can support the other. McLaren have done it all from zero.

It's also quite striking that pundits who thinks Ferrari are the one and only 'core' of Grand Prix racing really need to do a bit more reading. "

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3. Posted by NotRocketSurgery, 02/09/2013 13:21

"What an incredible read! Ron Dennis is certainly not the first name that comes to mind upon hearing the word "Philosopher", but there is no doubt that Ron Dennis has a philosophy of life that deserves to be emulated. This wonderful inspiring piece should be required reading for everyone, but especially for anyone who has ever questioned his own path in life. It is not the destination, it is the path one travels and the quality of the journey. I am absolutely inspired this morning. Thank You, Ron Dennis, for this wonderful gift. Truly, a road map and tour guide for personal success in only three pages. Awesome. I think I will frame it ... "

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4. Posted by JackTheCat, 02/09/2013 11:06

"Thanks for a great article. Dennis, like many of his drivers, is a complicated personality, but one thing he obviously has is a genuine love of F1 and motorsport and that comes before pretty much everything else.

The sport needs people like him and Sir Frank Williams..... the likes of Horner and Domenicalli enjoy their racing I am sure, but it is not a burning passion inside them like it is in these guys!"

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