Ron Dennis has announced that he will be continuing as team principal at McLaren this year, according to PitPass. Pardon me for saying it but I told you the man would stay and fight. All the flak he's taken over the last months must have hurt but also increased his resolve to see the matter through.
That will be good news for people like Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, since they will not be deprived of their favorite whipping boy after all. The Flav, in particular, really needs Big Ron to stick around a while longer so that he can insult him regularly and so reassure his golden boy, Alonso, that Renault is the best place to be.
In his latest statement, Flavio runs over the same old ground, coloring everything to fit with the view from Briatore-world; it would be quite amusing, were it not so pathetically obvious that the man will do anything to hang on to his favorite charge. World champions need to be protected, he says, leaving me to wonder how Kimi or Keke or Ayrton would have reacted to the mollycoddling Flavio insists is necessary.
And then he proceeds to the usual assertion that Hamilton had been McLaren's (for which, read Ron's) darling for the ten years prior to his debut in the F1 team. Strange that the Hamiltons wasted no time in going to Frank Williams when Ron was not being receptive to their demands. Such evidence of a less than perfect relationship does not enter Briatore-world, obviously.
When the Flav continues with Fernando's major complaint last season - that the team did not rejoice at his victories with the same enthusiasm as they did for Hamilton's - he merely reminds us of how fragile and petulant the Spaniard proved. The plain fact is that Alonso could not cope with his inability to beat Hamilton on the track and would use anything to excuse his failure.
Flavio seems to think that all this will continue to put the squeeze on Ron and his team - but that's a slim hope indeed. I have no doubt that McLaren are relieved to be free of the embarrassment that Alonso became and are looking forward to a great year with two exceptionally talented drivers. If Flavio reckons he can handle the temperamental Alonso so much better, fine, let him get on with it. Rehashing all the same old stuff will get Renault no nearer their next championship - they will have to beat McLaren on the track to achieve that.
As for Bernie's offering in the McLaren-bashing stakes, it is fairly typical of his publicity-angling statements. I do find his assertion that McLaren may have offered Alonso number one status rather more offensive than usual, however. Not even Alonso ever claimed that.
It all becomes a bit dreary in the end, leaving me with a sour taste of 2007 in my mouth as I drag myself through the last few days before the Australian GP. Perhaps the new season will bring a halt to all the petty mud-slinging and we can wash out the dregs of a particularly acrimonious year with the hopes and dreams of a new one.