Is Ron Dennis ever wrong ?

[SILVERS95]

Just been totally amazed by a interview ive just watched by Ron Dennis on Sky . He was basically saying that yesterdays crash between Takuma and Kimi was not all Kimi's fault .

His defence was that even though Takuma was still on a qualifing lap run , he wouldnt have improved on his time anyway , so he should have aborted his lap anyway as there wasnt any point in going for 3 timed laps in a row .

Who the hell is Ron Dennis to say what how Jordan should approach the qualifing session .

Kimi was on a out lap , he wasnt even passed the first sector , why doesnt Ron just admit that his boy stuffed up big time , and takes the punishment like a man. Kimi is a great driver , but the way Ron makes out that he does no wrong is just to funny for words .

Grow up Ron , you act like a sulking child sometimes.

[rpolinski]

Because it wasn't all Kimi's fault. Oh wait, I forgot, when it comes to Ron Dennis/McLaren haters when another car runs into the back of a McLaren it is the McLaren drivers fault. Just ask Michael

[Mr V]

How would Ron have known if Taku wasn't faster on that lap? He hadn't gone through the first timing point at that stage! I know, and agree that team bosses will always stand up for their drivers, and i do like Ron Dennis usually, but he does have an annoying habit of looking all pompous and appear to be looking down his nose when answering questions. I have to say, that considering how dangerous yesterdays contact between Kimi and Taku was, Kimi's lucky to just be getting away with losing his fastest qualifying time! He could well have been put on a ban for USA.

[Sato san]

Originally posted by rpolinski
Because it wasn't all Kimi's fault. Oh wait, I forgot, when it comes to Ron Dennis/McLaren haters when another car runs into the back of a McLaren it is the McLaren drivers fault. Just ask Michael

thats the kind of post that brings this forum down IMO...who's talking about Mclaren haters??....

Im interested to see how it wasnt Kimi's fault also ...as Kimi was on his out lap from the pits , and Taku was on a fast qualifer . Im glad Kimi didnt get a race ban for the incident , as i like to see Kimi race , he is so exciting , but lets not pretend that it wasnt his fault , if the roles were reversed , people would be calling for Taku's head !...

I like Mclaren , but i really dont like it when Ron goes into his smug mode , as if his team can do no wrong !

theres no need for it , he should just take it on the chin like a man.

[Red]

Of course Ron is never wrong... I mean he's always right

Certainly every boss has to stand for his driver (and actually every teammate should do the same thing) but actually Ron's excuse ("he should've aborted since he couldn't improve") is a bit over the line...... (Oh yes, I forgot to add that, on occasions, Ron himself should remember that...)

Anyway, Kimi did a big-one, but it's only a mistake. He took the penalty, understand that he made a mistake, he will remember and won't repeat it. No need for a race-ban or other more drastic measure.... FIA did well.

[z2252314]

Rons stupidity has no bounds.

[SILVERS95]

Originally posted by Red
Anyway, Kimi did a big-one, but it's only a mistake. He took the penalty, understand that he made a mistake, he will remember and won't repeat it. No need for a race-ban or other more drastic measure.... FIA did well.

i agree with that Red . My point was agianst his Boss .

Ron Dennis sometimes does so much damage to Mclaren's public profile , simply because he cant admit that his team has made a huge blunder . That was a big crash , and could have had dire results , but its Rons arrogance in the events afterwards that really does the damage .

as you said Red , Kimi did the big one , and everyone makes mistakes .

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Red
No need for a race-ban or other more drastic measure.... FIA did well.

Don't get me wrong, i don't want to see any driver banned, i just thought that he was lucky not to at least get a reprimand! I just wonder what would have happened if roles had have been reversed? After the season that Sato's had, if he had have put Kimi off, Ron would have been calling for his head!

[SILVERS95]

Kimi was lucky not to get a bigger penalty than he did . He did really deserve a bigger one than he got , but im glad he didnt get it . F1 needs drivers like KIMI in every race , but as long as he learns from his mistake , then there is no problem .

[f1manoz]

It was a pretty silly thing by Kimi and Ron's response just isn't helping the situation.

Ron, mate, sometimes you've got to learn when to shut the hell up and just accept a decision!

[rpolinski]

I'm not saying that Kimi was at fault. I'm agreeing with RD that he's not solely responsible. Salo could have backed off and avoided the incident. Every race a driver complains about someone blocking them on a fast lap during qualifying. The difference is they back off and complain, they don't run into the person and complain.

[Red]

Mr V, I know you that you don't wanted a driver banned! That was just my point regarding the situation.

Anyway, speaking of Ron and the damage that he inflicts to himself, does anyone remember the 2001 GP of Monaco? ANd that was only to his image! Ozman, that's Ron's problem! He just cannot accept other's decission, especially when they come from FIA. Actually at the Brazilian GP in 2000, when David's front wing was found a couple of millimeters lower than allowed, he perhaps could've argued that David's wing was cracked; instead he decided that it's a more appropriate approach to have a go on them! Not dirrectly, but in front of the journalists! The result? They didn't even look at them and made the DQ final.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by rpolinski
Salo could have backed off and avoided the incident.

I believe you mean Sato ?

Anyway, it's easy to say this in hindsight, but at the time, Taku was 18th, nearly 3 seconds down on the pole time, and nearly a second behind the time set by his team-mate who is in 12th place. When Taku commited himself to going past Kimi, i don't suppose that he thought that Kimi was going to come across him, after all Kimi should have been looking in his mirrors and the team should have made him aware of Sato's presence

[rpolinski]

I propose a new rule that all driver names must differ by atleast two letters

[Red]

That's a good point!

[Mr V]

Originally posted by rpolinski
I propose a new rule that all driver names must differ by atleast two letters

I wouldn't worry too much, as i doubt that either SALO or SATO will be in F1 next year.

[Jack racer]

I don't think Kimmi will ever have that problem with his name.

[kn.]

just imagine the situation if the position of the drivers were reversed and Sato took Kimmi out ! would the official outcome have been the same ?

[neilap]

KR's mistake. It would be wrong to ask Sato to abort his qualifying for Kimmi's ignorance. Would he have gotten it back? I dont think so.
I think the penalty was fair, enough. It will not have too much of an effect on KR. I do not expect to see EI ahead of them (KR&DC) for too long.

[rpolinski]

No, but I think it is reasonable to ask Sato to abort his qualifying lap to avoid a possibly dangerous collision. No-one here disagrees that Kimi (one M) made a mistake.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by rpolinski
but I think it is reasonable to ask Sato to abort his qualifying lap to avoid a possibly dangerous collision.

But then this opens up another can of worms imo, as every driver will be getting in the way "accidently" to stop the others getting a good qualifying time, but it won't be their fault as the other driver will be "obliged" to give up the run to avoid a dangerous collision.

[Red]

Originally posted by rpolinski
No, but I think it is reasonable to ask Sato to abort his qualifying lap to avoid a possibly dangerous collision. No-one here disagrees that Kimi (one M) made a mistake.

It might be reasonable. But MORE reasonable and logical and easier and normal is to ask Kimi to move over.

[garcon]

Qualifying is inherently dangerous - you have cars on flying laps on the same track as cars on in/out laps. You rely on the professionalism and self preservation instincts of the drivers to avoid anything really nasty, but mistakes can always happen.

The only way to avoid that is to adopt some kind of 'superpole' arrangement where each car takes to the track on its own for out/flying/in lap. But that would change the whole nature of F1 - in my opinion for the worse.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by garcon
The only way to avoid that is to adopt some kind of 'superpole' arrangement where each car takes to the track on its own for out/flying/in lap. But that would change the whole nature of F1 - in my opinion for the worse.

I agree that it would change things for the worse, the whole point of the current format in qualifying is to give everyone an equal chance, a "superpole" format is not equality as there are different track characteristics throughout the qualifying hour.

[BootsOntheSide]

The Superpole thing is fine for bikes as the tyres don't leave rubber on the track, but in F1 it wouldn't work. If they made the slower cars go out first, the top teams would get an extra advantage; if the fastest guys went out first, the action would be over almost immediately.