Since 1998 (when I saw ma first Formula 1 race on television), Ive cheered on da silver cars n have not wavered in ma support even during da years of Ferrari domination..da thing dat stood out to me was da feeling dat they were true professionals, always in control, always had a plan for da last tiny detail...it was da team dat even after winning a race wud infrm their driver to follow da proper procedure on da cool-down lap n wud provide their drivers wid clean overals for da televised press conference.As a McLaren fan da qualifying n spying crises of da past few months have made me reexamine
wat it means to supprt da team n after dis all Im prepared to add some new reason why McLaren is ma favorite team: sportsmnship n teamwork.As a fan, I have come to apprecate Ron Dennis n de McLaren team evn more becoz they steadfastly held to dere priciple of equality even when it wud benefit da team to designate a number one n a number two.
As the mclarens offical website mentions:
"We built the team and we built the company on parity. Parity I know is so hard to come to grips with. There are many teams who share that value but who do not have either a competitive racing car or two very competitive racing drivers, and when you get a combination of those two values, then you are definitely going to have a hard time . . . If you go down the alternative route you end up with a racing team which really has one racing car and one racing driver, because you inevitably then have
to have a very declared internal interest in one particular driver, and I don’t think that’s the way to go about winning World Championships."
now even after da controvrsy dennis insisted dat da policy will continue:
"We will continue to function as a grand prix team with specific values. And if anybody does not want to be part of those values, irrespective of where they fit in the organization, then ultimately they will have choice [to leave]. But we will not deviate from our values."
In othr wordz, no1 person is bigger then da team n dat is a principle dat shud apply to all walks of life outside McLaren...da reason why McLaren is more worthy of ma support is dat bi imposing da value of fair play n sportsmnship upon themselvezz they will only win becoz of technical or drivig superiority. a team like ferrari on da othr hand will win at all costs includng asking their number two driver to slow down or using illegal aerodynamic devices..or choosing to compete anyway when all of their rivals have been decimated by a tire issue.. thus proving very lil in da exercise except dat sport
means nothing to them. sure McLaren doesnt win evry yr but when they do u knoe they really deserved it...to them its not abt da prize its abt how they earnet it n thatz why Im a McLaren fan. howevr if mcLaren has a fault it is dat they r too trusting of young drivers. As somethne b.w the ages of hammy n Alonso i can relate to their attitude dat becoz they r super talented..they r also smarter den da collective efforts of 45 years or so of the McLaren team..dat kind of attitude works well if u r a writer or an artist but in a team envirnment dat cud be deadly, wat mcLaren realy need r 2 drivrs who have worked in da busines for a long time..who can appreciatee every last detail of da organisation inclding da efforts of da co-drivers n uderstand dat therez more to life den wining world championshipz.Let Hammy go to Ferari or bMW just as Alonso went bak to Renault if dey want. Those teams can try to mask their organisational deficiencies wid a star driver n dey probably will win more racez in da short term..but mcLaren has always been abt long term strtegies. dfrivers will get old n die but an institution n its values do not.