Dennis Fires Warning to Ferrari

McLaren chief Ron Dennis said on Thursday that talk of early season troubles hindering McLaren's title bid this season is way off the mark.

Team-boss Dennis rubbished suggestions that the team's MP4-16 is unreliable and he claimed past performances prove the car is capable of powering to championship success.

McLaren finished second to Ferrari in both the drivers' and manufacturers' championship and the boss of the Woking-based team is confident of reversing the result this year.

"I'd rather have a fast, unreliable car than a slow, reliable car," Dennis said. "But I feel a bit uncomfortable when people start portraying us as an unreliable, incompetent Grand Prix team.

"We're far from that and our results show it. The facts are our reliability last year was incredible.

"That our main competition has perhaps slightly better reliability tends to throw the spotlight onto us and why we didn't win the world championship.

"Since the first time McLaren turned a wheel on a Grand Prix track in 1966, we've won one of every four races in which we've competed. That demonstrates not only a winning culture, but a culture of reliability."