A visibly wearied Ron Dennis left Hungary on Sunday night looking forward to a glass of wine at home in Woking and then a good holiday.
The McLaren boss said he would for a while hand over the reigns to deputy and future successor Martin Whitmarsh, after perhaps the most tumultuous weekend of his nearly three decades in charge of his team and company.
He also revealed that F1’s August break and test ban would probably not be interrupted by the deliberations of the FIA Court of Appeal, which is due to hear the espionage case soon.
“First of all I think it is incorrect to describe this as a case of espionage,” he told the Spanish newspaper ‘As’.
“I believe the situation is quite clear — an employee of Ferrari has provided information to an employee of McLaren completely independently of both teams.
“Has it affected me? Possibly, you could say that. It is particularly painful when somebody comes along and questions you and your company’s integrity.”
Dennis also revealed to the newspaper that he did not expect the FIA to convene the case in August.
“We think (it will be in) the second week of September, but we don’t know.”
