Magnussen: Ron Dennis’s pressure is positive for McLaren F1

Before the British Grand Prix, Ron Dennis, the chairman of the McLaren Group, stated that he expected much more from Jenson Button. According to him, the 2009 world champion needs to make a lot more effort to secure his number 1 spot on the team against newcomer Kevin Magnussen.

Shortly after, the former Brawn GP driver responded by stating that the team needed to be united instead of criticizing individually. The Briton matched his words with actions by finishing 4th at Silverstone, missing a podium by a few tenths. His Danish teammate finished in 7th place in this race.

For *Autosport*, Kevin Magnussen reflects on Ron Dennis’s criticism: « It’s a good thing that Ron puts pressure on us, Ron knows what’s good, he puts pressure on everyone and you know what you have to do. I hope everyone on the team feels involved because we are a good team. We need to give everything we can of ourselves and do the best possible job, that’s the effect Ron has. I think it’s positive, he has this energy around him. »

The competition director at McLaren, Eric Boullier, believes that the pressure exerted by Ron Dennis is not new and is an expression of his competitive nature: « Ron has historically always pushed everyone. He is a great competitor, he loves to win, and when you want to win, you have to, yourself, and everyone, work in the right direction. Everyone in the team is under positive pressure to ensure that we will be in a position to win again and soon », indicated the Frenchman.

Last January, fed up with the management of the McLaren Group, particularly the F1 branch, Ron Dennis was back in control in place of Martin Whitmarsh, with the ambition of reviving the company and bringing it back to the top of the discipline by changing its organization. Among the strong decisions of the Briton, the dismissal of Sergio Pérez in favor of Kevin Magnussen and the appointment of Eric Boullier as Racing Director.