McLaren: No say in Force India's line-up
McLaren boss Ron Dennis says his team had no say in Force India's decision to keep their driver line-up unchanged
Dennis admitted, however, that they did make suggestions to the Silverstone-based squad.
"We have no contractual rights to those sorts of decisions within Force India," Dennis said during the launch of the new McLaren.
"But of course there were opinions expressed and sought. But at the end of the day Vijay (Mallya) and his sponsors are the individuals who have to decide what is the right choice for them.
"There were opportunities for some of the drivers we have relationships with, and obviously Mercedes-Benz is extremely supportive of the development of young drivers. There were discussions but the driver choice was ultimately theirs."
Force India signed a technical deal with McLaren and Mercedes from this season and there were suggestions that the German car maker wanted to place a young driver in the team.
Paul di Resta, Gary Paffett, and Pedro de la Rosa were linked with the seat, but Force India confirmed Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil would stay on for another year.
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Jon Noble: An unfair perception or a genuine concern? Lifting the lid on Red Bull’s Tsunoda scepticism
What McLaren thought of Piastri's explosive F1 Hungarian GP radio outburst
Piastri slams "unacceptable" Sainz blue-flag incident, accepts McLaren strategy in Hungarian GP
Why Hungarian GP pole position was an ‘overachievement" for Norris – and Ferrari still has a better car
What McLaren thought of Piastri's explosive F1 Hungarian GP radio outburst
How Norris shrugged off his first-lap error to deliver on McLaren's Hungarian GP pace
BTCC Thruxton: Ingram wins race three despite penalty to cut into Sutton’s lead
New Honda F1 engine to debut in Aston Martin filming day ahead of Dutch GP
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments