Todt turned down offer to solve spy crisis

Dennis busy protecting his racers from media distractions...

Ron Dennis on Saturday said his Ferrari counterpart Jean Todt turned down an offer to settle the espionage scandal away from the courts.

The Spanish news agency EFE quoted the McLaren CEO, Chairman and Team Principal as confirming that he had spoken to Todt in recent days to also investigate ways to resolve the dispute away from the circus of public spotlight. Ferrari 'did not want' to explore those avenues, Dennis said.

He also explained that he barred drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton from media engagements in Budapest on Thursday to protect them.

Asked specifically about Alonso's cancelled attendance at the official FIA press conference, Dennis said: "It's a shooting gallery. If Fernando had gone, all the questions about the spy issue would have been a considerable distraction for him.

"I try to be a good head of this team and I believe that I have dealt with this subject in an appropriate way."

Mercedes Benz's head of competition Norbert Haug also confirmed that the cancelled media dates were to 'reduce the pressure' on Alonso and his team-mate.

"Ron Dennis thought this was the best thing to do and so that is what we did," the German told the Spanish newspaper Marca. "Of course there are discussions about what we decide, and if we are criticised for that, we will have to live with it."

Source GMM
CAPSIS International

taken from f1-live.com