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Ron Dennis of McLaren was hurt when the driver to whom he'd given everything jumped ship for Mercedes. Now they're working at patching things up...
LONDON, England - Lewis Hamilton and former mentor Ron Dennis have moved to patch up their broken relationship.
After McLaren and team 'supremo' Dennis built Hamilton's F1 career from boyhood the relationship crumbled spectacularly in 2012 when the 2008 F1 champion decided to switch his allegiance to Mercedes.
Dennis, however, said early this week that the British driver will always be "part of the McLaren family".
NO PERSONAL ISSUE
The McLaren chairman said: "In 2012 I didn't seriously seek to prevent his efforts to explore new pastures with Mercedes - perhaps it was a necessary part of his maturation but I'll always remember his time with us very fondly, just as I'm very proud of having been McLaren's CEO and team principal when he became champion in 2008."
Asked about Dennis at Monza on Thursday, Hamilton revealed he recently "had a nice chat" by phone with his former boss. "We spoke for about an hour. It was a really good conversation. I don't think there are any issues there personally," he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. "He's had such a big role in my life so I felt it was important to connect."
Hamilton also insisted he would not be bothered if, on Sunday, he wsa booed by the Italian 'tifosi' as he was when he won for McLaren in 2012. "If I'm up there and I'm being booed that means I've won, I definitely want that."
Less keen on being booed was Sebastian Vettel, who admitted the reaction of the British crowd at Silverstone in August 2013 left him cold. "I didn't understand it," he told the Daily Mail. "I had not done anything to make them do it. I went up on the stage later for the post-race concert and got booed again.
"Obviously, in the British GP, if I am leading and they want a British driver to win, they might not like it, which is fair, but booing - I don't think that is fair."
LONDON, England - Lewis Hamilton and former mentor Ron Dennis have moved to patch up their broken relationship.
After McLaren and team 'supremo' Dennis built Hamilton's F1 career from boyhood the relationship crumbled spectacularly in 2012 when the 2008 F1 champion decided to switch his allegiance to Mercedes.
Dennis, however, said early this week that the British driver will always be "part of the McLaren family".
NO PERSONAL ISSUE
The McLaren chairman said: "In 2012 I didn't seriously seek to prevent his efforts to explore new pastures with Mercedes - perhaps it was a necessary part of his maturation but I'll always remember his time with us very fondly, just as I'm very proud of having been McLaren's CEO and team principal when he became champion in 2008."
Asked about Dennis at Monza on Thursday, Hamilton revealed he recently "had a nice chat" by phone with his former boss. "We spoke for about an hour. It was a really good conversation. I don't think there are any issues there personally," he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. "He's had such a big role in my life so I felt it was important to connect."
Hamilton also insisted he would not be bothered if, on Sunday, he wsa booed by the Italian 'tifosi' as he was when he won for McLaren in 2012. "If I'm up there and I'm being booed that means I've won, I definitely want that."
Less keen on being booed was Sebastian Vettel, who admitted the reaction of the British crowd at Silverstone in August 2013 left him cold. "I didn't understand it," he told the Daily Mail. "I had not done anything to make them do it. I went up on the stage later for the post-race concert and got booed again.
"Obviously, in the British GP, if I am leading and they want a British driver to win, they might not like it, which is fair, but booing - I don't think that is fair."
