Eric Boullier insists McLaren ‘supremo’ Ron Dennis is letting him get on with his new job.<\/p>\n
Boullier, previously in charge at Lotus, was drafted in to replace the ousted Martin Whitmarsh after McLaren’s disastrous 2013 season.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman’s first race in charge was in Melbourne, but lurking nearby was the McLaren supremo Dennis, who has returned to the formula one paddock on a mission to rescue his beloved team that “lost its way” last year.<\/p>\n
66-year-old Dennis will not wear a team uniform at the races and, during the pre-season, he insisted “he is not going to be on the pitwall”, according to the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n
But “What’s the betting he will be (on the pitwall) before the season is over?” said correspondent Jonathan McEvoy.<\/p>\n
Indeed, in Melbourne, Dennis was spotted walking to the pitwall, apparently to tell Boullier what to do.<\/p>\n
“He was not (telling me what to do),” Boullier insisted to the Telegraph.\u00a0 “He came to visit a couple of times.”<\/p>\n
Dennis said he is just an observer at the races this year.<\/p>\n
“I’m a racer, so the thought of not understanding and contributing doesn’t come across my mind,” he said.\u00a0 “When you observe things it’s good to say ‘why not this?’ or ‘why not that?'”<\/p>\n
The bigger McLaren-themed story after Melbourne was the surprisingly good debut performance by rookie Kevin Magnussen.<\/p>\n
But another F1 rookie, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, also caught the attention of the experts, like triple world champion Niki Lauda.<\/p>\n
“These guys are, first of all, huge talents,” he said.<\/p>\n
The old guard is impressed at how the youngsters are arriving on the grid with almost no track testing and performing at the highest level.<\/p>\n
Lauda says it’s a generational thing.<\/p>\n
“It’s like my kids, who are four and a half and already better at computer games than me.\u00a0 They are made quite differently than in my day,” he smiled.<\/p>\n
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