Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Dennis could have shown more class - Magnussen

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Kevin Magnussen says his departure from McLaren “could have been done with a bit more class” and insists Ron Dennis never set him any specific targets.

Dennis claimed during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend that Magnussen had been let go because he had failed to achieve certain targets set out for him by the team. The Dane is now seeking a new team to work with in F1 having been demoted from a race seat to reserve driver last season, with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso remaining as McLaren's driver line-up.

Asked about Dennis’ comments in Abu Dhabi, Magnussen told Ekstra Bladet: “Between me and Ron? At no stage were any specific targets set for me.

“He does look like a man who could see that it wasn't done in the best way. But I kind of feel like: relax, it's Formula One and a tough world. If you can't handle that, then you need to find something else to do. It could have been done with a bit more class, but so what. I don't care.”

And Magnussen says it was the receipt of Dennis’ email which confirmed his time at McLaren was over, though he admits he knew it was likely there wouldn’t be a seat for him in 2016.

“[I knew] when I got an email, which isn't completely true because for a while I could see that none of these drivers were getting fired. That I could see for a long time. But I didn't know if one of them might retire in which case I would be in the running for a seat again. So really not until I got that email.

“A lot of things were happening [leading up to the decision]. That much I can tell. It wouldn't be fair to say exactly what, but it was an interesting month. Really, it was just cool that [Dennis] wrote that email so I could focus on moving on.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.