24/05/2007
NEWS STORY
Ron Dennis was in no mood for pulling punches today as witnessed by his comments regarding the media and pundits, who claim to know more about what's happening at McLaren than he does.
However, his attack on the media was but nothing compared to his put down of the Red Bulletin, the magazine produced over the course of each Grand Prix weekend, seemingly by a cast of thousands, and which appears to polarise members of the F1 community.
In recent weeks it has emerged that in much the same way as Tom Rubython's BusinessF1 is a strict no-no in the paddock, so the Red Bulletin is banned from McLaren's Communications Centre.
Asked to explain, why, Dennis gave a full and somewhat frank explanation.
"I think it's a piece of rubbish," he said. "I feel that if we all focused on humorous magazines that criticise the other teams, I think the likes of Ferrari, with the support of Marlboro, could spend a lot of time and energy writing humorous things about other teams and individuals within the sport. I have a simple view that if people want to come and enjoy the hospitality of McLaren, then they should respect the fact that I don't particularly like what I consider to be a controversial document coming into our facility.
"They can go and sit in Red Bull and eat to their heart's content and enjoy their hospitality," he continued. "But I don't like it, I don't like what it stands for, I don't like the quality of it, and I don't like the way it tries to make fun out of individuals from every team and their efforts to try and do a good job. So I think that's a pretty straightforward answer and leaves you in no doubt about my feelings."
However, just in case anyone hadn't fully got his drift, Ron added: "I don't think it has a place in Grand Prix racing."
Ouch, ouch, ouch!