Ron Dennis Falls On Sword For McLaren
Ron Dennis has given up the ghost in Formula One. He has fallen on his sword for McLaren in an effort to minimize the penalty given McLaren in its latest scandal.
Ron Dennis is an iconic figure. He is brilliant and turned McLaren into a top team in Formula One. At the same time, he was arrogant and stubborn to know end. This, of course, created an iconic brawl between he and the massively stubborn and arrogant individuals known as Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley.
The war with Mosley and Ecclestone was a loser for two reasons for Ron Dennis. First, they have the upper hand as the defacto rulers of Formula One. Second, McLaren repeatedly made major mistakes under Dennis that made it easy for Mosley and Ecclestone to come out victorious.
The irony of the announcement that Dennis is leaving the F1 McLaren operation reeks of a person falling on his sword. You can be that the force at issue you here is Mercedes. Repeated scandals are not the type of publicity that Mercedes needs. Throw in the fact that Brawn GP is running a Mercedes engine and doing well with the fact Mercedes is losing a billion dollars a month and reconsidering its investment in Formula One, and you have a recipe for Mercedes to raise a major fuss.
The “lie-gate” episode is so bizarre that it is hard to know what McLaren could have been thinking. They told lies that directly contradicted their radio conversations. This was not some iffy era like the interpretation of diffuser design rules. This was a flat out lie being told to the stewards in Australia. Then it was repeated in Malaysia! Egads, how stupid could you be?
What will happen to McLaren? With Ron Dennis falling on his sword, McLaren is clearly trying to put an end to the war with Mosley and Ecclestone. Will it work? I think it will. Look for McLaren to get a slap on the wrist and perhaps be put on probation. By falling on his sword, Ron Dennis will end up doing his team a service.
Lemmy