Dennis: McLaren could keep Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton surprised the paddock of the F1 by choosing to replace Michael Schumacher within Mercedes AMG F1 when he had the opportunity to extend his contract with McLaren. His missed victory at the Singapore Grand Prix following a gearbox problem seems to have played a role in the choice of the 2008 world champion, as did the lucrative contract signed with the Stuttgart manufacturer. McLaren chose Sergio Pérez but the Woking team seemed above all to want to keep the Briton. However, Ron Dennis defends the interests of the English manufacturer by qualifying the situation.

For the President of McLaren, the team could have managed to keep Lewis Hamilton in its team. “I think it is wrong to show Lewis leaving the team”, he commented in the CBI Magazine. “In the end, you end up in a situation where you break up if the circumstances aren't right. Life is not about one person deciding everything, it doesn't work that way. It's about circumstances... Were we able to create a situation where we could have stayed together? Categorically, yes. Would this have been the right thing to do? We didn't think so... We're not going to wish him the best success with Mercedes, that's understandable because he's going to become a competitor, but we're not wishing him anything negative either. »