Formula One news

Dennis stays sporting in face of defeat

McLaren boss Ron Dennis was visibly gutted after Kimi Raikkonen deprived both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton of the drivers' championship at the end of an incredibly tough year in which McLaren was also stripped of its constructors' championship points.

"I think it's difficult moments like this you've just got to have a sporting attitude," said a stunned Dennis, whose team wakes up to the unlikely reality of having won neither title this year.

"Lewis has enjoyed phenomenal reliability so far this year but there was a fault in the gearbox which selected neutral for some time before correcting itself," Dennis explained. "We gained ten seconds by switching to a three-stop so that was the right thing to do."

"We needed one car ahead of us to stop to give us a chance," he added. "It's hard to find the right words, but our team's done the right thing all year. Ferrari suffered its reliability at the start of the year and we suffered ours now. We're a competitive team and we want to fight on the circuit and this season's been challenging for lots of reasons as you know. This is a sport and we'll be sporting about it."

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• 07 Jan.
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• 06 Jan.
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  • Kubica to start karting team
  • Webber's recovery going well
  • Ferrari to reveal new car next week
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• 05 Jan.
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  • Suspended sentence and fine for Verstappen
  • Berger confirms Buemi for STR
• 04 Jan.
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• 03 Jan.
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• 02 Jan.
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• 01 Jan.
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• 31 Dec. '08
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  • Hakkinen: Vettel will soon be a Formula 1 champion
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• 30 Dec. '08
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• 29 Dec. '08
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  • Alonso to join Ferrari in 2011?
  • Mexican billionaire denies Honda bid
• 28 Dec. '08
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• 27 Dec. '08
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