12/09/2007
FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
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For some reason there seems to be campaign against Ron Dennis. That is nothing new, there are journalists who have seemed to have resented the man's success. Some people have pointed out that that he began as 'only' a mechanic. He was the youngest mechanic on the Formula One pitlane and that was at a time when there were only two or three wrenches per team.
Ron was exceptional. He has always been exceptional. When Jack Brabham set up the Brabham Racing Organisation he could pick and choose and he chose Ron. I don't think there has been a smarter operator in Formula One than Sir Jack and he chose Ron Dennis. For me, that says a lot.
When Ron wanted to go his own way, and set up a team with Neil Trundel, Ron Tauranac did something against his nature, he allowed them credit. I know Ron Tauranac, I wrote his biography. When Tauranac allows you credit, you have to be on the far side of trustworthy.
When Ron Dennis got into Formula One we had 'Ronspeak' This was because Ron's speech was on the convoluted side. Some journalists got on to that. As soon as Ron Dennis opened his mouth they were set to mock him, they were on the blocks. Ron seemed to have swallowed every book on management jargon without digesting it and sometimes the result was amusing. There were people out there, and there still are, who thought that Ron Dennis was risible, that he had grown too big for his boots.
All I can say is that they were not at Goodwood tests in the Formula Three and Formula Two days. I saw Ron close at hand, frequently, but I never spoke to him because he was busy. I witnessed his approach and he impressed me.
Ian Bamsey edited a book called 'The 1000 BHP Grand Prix Cars' and I got McLaren, which was not a bad gig, I got to chat with both John Barnard and Ron Dennis. There had been a big falling out between the two and Ron wanted to put his side. He said, 'This is off the record', so I reached to turn off the tape recorder. He said it was not necessary.
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He knew that if he said something was off the record I would respect that. The tape kept rolling, however, so I have one hot cassette, but everything that Ron said to me is still off the record.
The thing about Ron Dennis is that sometimes the words get jumbled, but he looks you straight in the eye. I saw him close up when he was in Formula Three and I don't get why he appears to be targeted.
Ron Dennis has been targeted, make no mistake about that. There is a campaign against him and I do not know why. Sir Jackie Stewart has come out on Ron's behalf. He has expressed the opinion that senior people in the FIA are out to nail Ronzo and it could backfire on them. When Jackie Stewart speaks, I listen. He is a man who thinks before opening his mouth.
I do not suppose it has anything to do with Nigel Stepney saying he knows where all the bodies are buried. To me, in my simple way, that sounds that he knows about cheating at Ferrari.
Maybe he means something else apart from cheating, but to claim to know where the bodies are buried is a dramatic statement. I have never thought that Stepney was a Drama Queen so what did he mean?
Ferrari has been protested by McLaren on a regular basis and I do not think that McLaren cheats. It is not in the nature of Ron Dennis to cheat.
I once asked him what went into his back pocket when he ran Stefan Johansson in Formula Three in 1980. I asked him direct, he told me and I am not going to tell you because it was a private conversation. I know that he also told Marlboro, who was Stefan's sponsor.
Ron was straight with sponsors, there had been had been some dodgy deals in motor racing. When Ron presented his budget there would always be someone who would query one figure. Ron would say, "That is my profit. I am running a business, I expect to make a profit, as you do in your business. I am offering a business partnership."
The Philip Morris company believed in him and edged him to his place at McLaren. Daimler-Benz believes in him which is why they have so much money tied up in Woking and Brixworth. I do not think that the people at Daimler-Benz are daft, the one thing I do know about them is that they value integrity.
I believe that Ron Dennis is being set up, You cannot vouch for the integrity of each one of more than a thousand employees, you wish that you could, but the plain fact is that you cannot. Chief Designer, Mike Coughlan, appears to have been guilty of something, he has been suspended from his job. I would like to know of what he has been guilty.
He told his bosses that he had received Ferrari data and he got it from Nigel Stepney who seems to have gone mute. Were the documents stolen? The documents were in English and Ferrari paints its cars red. Is it possible to claim that the papers are the personal property of Nigel Stepney?
Does Stepney have any right to information he gained in the course of his employment? If he came up with new ideas, does he has a right to them? This question affects every industry and every employer.
The FIA (aka Ferrari's Internal Agency) seems set to nail McLaren over the action of an employee, but it was an employee of Ferrari who started it all. It was Nigel Stepney, allegedly, who handed over the documents.
Two former Ferrari employees have received (suspended) prison sentences for selling data to Toyota Motorsport. Three senior figures at Toyota have left the company having been charged with industrial espionage. Until proven guilty they are, of course, innocent.
I do not recall the FIA becoming agitated about the Toyota case, yet two people have been found guilty in a court of law. Nobody at McLaren has been charged with anything. The only person who has had criminal charges levelled against him in the current case is another former Ferrari employee.
I want to know why the FIA is so keen on slamming McLaren, which has no criminal charge against it, and has done nothing about Toyota Motorsport. I could not possibly imagine that someone at the FIA simply dislikes Ron Dennis and it is all personal.
Mike Lawrence
mike@pitpass.com
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