Dennis still committed to McLaren future

The German publication Auto Motor Und Sport reported this week that Dennis may be looking to retire at the end of this year if his team succeed in their ambition to win the F1 world championship.

The magazine also suggested that Dennis was so keen to achieve the title, which would allow him to leave, that he was focusing his team's efforts on developing this year's car at the expense of work on their 2009 challenger.

But a McLaren spokesman has moved to dismiss the speculation about Dennis's future, claiming that the team chief's future plans have not changed and that there is no suggestion of them putting all their resources into 2008.

"Recent articles suggesting that Ron is considering stepping back, or that he will step back if the world championship is won by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes this year, have been based around a very old quote," said a McLaren team spokesman.

"Ron has made it clear on numerous occasions that he has made no decision as to if and when he may or may not step aside. Ron's, and the team's, focus remains on winning every grand prix we start - and that applies to this season, next season, the season after that, and so on.

"As a result, we are maintaining development of our 2009 car, at undiminished levels, while continually improving our 2008 car, race by race, test by test, in the normal way."