Dennis defends McLaren driver management

Although the Woking-based outfit endured a troubled time with former world champion Fernando Alonso last year as he fought to be made number one, Dennis thinks that his team's mantra of complete equality between the drivers is paying dividends now.

"If someone is lacking anything, like confidence or physical condition, then there's a huge opportunity for improvement," he said. "They're not negatives. We have a good environment in our team for drivers.

"You can be critical of the way we choose to operate our team in terms of driver equality, but I think it does get the best out of drivers. It's supportive and gives them guidance and puts them in a position to perform."

He added: "I think both (current drivers) have really got their minds in the right place and that's not solely because of their own efforts. It's part of our programme to be supportive of their physical and mental condition.

"And what you're seeing is obviously largely because of their own efforts but also because they're so well supported by the facilities we make available to them to be better drivers."

Although the line-up of Kovalainen and Hamilton does give McLaren one of the least experienced driver pairings on the grid, Dennis is adamant that there is nothing lacking with his men.

"Norbert [Haug] and I have very firm views on drivers," he said. "Those views are shared with people in our organisations who are not always of the same mind, but in the end we take decisions.

"We always have the best available drivers in our team - and the key word is available - and if drivers have existing relationships, we would never break them. But we'll always explore whether a driver is available.

"We believe without doubt we have the best two drivers available to us. The fact they're young is a positive thing, and the fact their personalities are comparable and they get on well is a bonus.

"At the end of the day, we have the best people available to us to get the job done."