Responding to a comment made by Sir Jackie Stewart regarding the support role Jackie feels Heikki should be playing for Lewis’s championship bid; Ron Dennis has yet again reiterated that there are no team orders at McLaren.Not only did he suggest that team orders don’t exist at McLaren but that the drivers are highly competitive and free to race on their own volition. He also suggested that Sir Jackie is out of bounds with his comments as he is past his prime and doesn’t understand current motorsport acumen. Ouch.
Ron went on to suggest that all the teams race without team orders nowadays and that McLaren have always held to this belief. Ron suggests that your humble Negative Camber is an armchair critic and that I may not agree with this highly evolved level of thinking and that I would recoil at the thought of letting two teammates race head to head but what Ron failed to address is that this product-consuming and money paying armchair critic doesn’t have an issue with “no team orders”. No, this armchair critic doesn’t believe a thing Ron is saying about his companies penchant for following this highly evolved racing strategy. You have a long history of SAYING that you don’t have team orders but that is different than having a long history of actually NOT having team orders.
Oh, and it is not lost on me the slight of hand Ronspeak about Heikki won’t be in supportive role because Lewis doesn’t need help. Uh…ok.
“I have enormous respect for Sir Jackie, he was one of grand prix racing’s truly great world champions. Equally, we’re always willing to accept constructive criticism and the affection felt in Britain for Lewis means lots of people are anxious to give well-intentioned advice,”
“But the fact is that Sir Jackie retired from motor racing in 1973, which is 35 years ago, and the sport has moved on in that time. His suggestion that Lewis’s world championship campaign depends on Heikki’s assistance presupposes that Heikki’s task is to drive in support of Lewis, and that simply isn’t the case.
“The truth is that Lewis doesn’t any extra help. He and Heikki are good mates but they’re both highly competitive individuals and they take their own decisions.”
“We have a long history of giving our drivers equal treatment and opportunity, and that isn’t about to change,” he added. “Not every armchair critic will agree with that policy but it’s the way we go motor racing. And, to be frank, it’s the way everyone goes motor racing these days.”
