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Ron Dennis has faced what is perhaps the toughest period of his life in the past nine months – from both a professional and personal perspective. The intense and uncomfortable pressure, during and after the McLaren spy scandal, deeply affected and hurt this assured, confident – many would say arrogant – man. In the wake of the politics and accusations, losing the 2007 world championship was just another crushing blow to a team and a boss reaching their lowest ebb.
The very foundation of Dennis’s profoundly moralistic approach to running his business and his life was challenged. And Ron could not hide his pain. He had become a haunted, ashen figure, and for the first time in his career there was talk that his role at McLaren had become peripheral. It was even said he would quit his beloved team and sport, leaving McLaren to his lieutenants even before the new season had begun.
But Ron was in Australia to watch Lewis Hamilton win. He was in Malaysia too, against even his own expectations. In fact, it appears that against the odds, the old Ron Dennis had been revived. He had refused to be railroaded out of his own company and Formula 1 and was fighting back.
And now here’s the evidence that the old Ron Dennis is back.
Ahead of the third round of the World Championship, the Bahrain Motor Sport Business Forum featured a host of high-profile speakers discussing the future of Grand Prix racing. One of them was Dennis, and typically he stole the headlines with a brilliant, contemplative and characteristically thorough speech outlining his vision for the future of the sport he loves.
The reaction? He received a standing ovation.
Ron Dennis is back, and Motor Sport was there to witness the return of a man who has emerged from a traumatic period of his life scarred, but unbowed. Here is the speech in full.
