Damon Hill has revealed he came \u201cvery close\u201d to joining McLaren, only to walk away after sensing Ron Dennis did not truly want him.<\/p>\n
Following his experience with Williams, Hill said he was not prepared to put himself in a situation again of not feeling truly wanted. He quickly felt regret over his McLaren<\/a> rejection.<\/p>\n Damon Hill regret over Ron Dennis McLaren rejection<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Hill won his sole world championship with Williams in 1996, though was not retained by the team for the following year.<\/p>\n Hill moved to Arrows for a season, and spent his final two years on the grid with Jordan. Hill retired at the end of the 1999 season.<\/p>\n Appearing on the Stay On Track podcast alongside three-time grand prix winner Johnny Herbert, Hill revealed that he previously held advanced talks with then McLaren team boss Ron Dennis.<\/p>\n Hill described Dennis as \u201cvery awkward to deal with\u201d, as \u201cin my experience, he didn\u2019t give me the sense that he really wanted me there.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there was an opportunity to go there. I got very close, but I concluded, \u2018Look, if he doesn\u2019t want me there, do I want to be there in a situation where I\u2019ve been through that with Williams, where I\u2019d been trying to get the sense that they actually thought I was worth keeping\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd after leaving, I\u2019d concluded, \u2018I\u2019m not putting myself through that again. I\u2019m only going to go somewhere if someone wants me to be there\u2019. I didn\u2019t get that sense with Ron, so I politely declined.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a decision which Hill should have slept on, however, in hindsight.<\/p>\n \u201cI did have regrets,\u201d Hill admitted, quipping \u201cbecause the moment I put the phone down to him and said you can stick it where the sun doesn\u2019t shine, I phoned him back about 10 minutes later and went, \u2018I might have been a bit hasty\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBut anyway, it was too late then.\u201d<\/p>\n More on McLaren from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Why Zak Brown says Christian Horner makes F1 better<\/a><\/p>\n Who owns each Formula 1 team?<\/a><\/p>\n Herbert revealed that he also held talks with Dennis during his career, but \u201cnever got that close\u201d to signing any McLaren deal.<\/p>\n Dennis\u2019 opening remark to Herbert was enough to end that one.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to the old factory in Woking,\u201d Herbert recalled, \u201cand remember waiting outside. Secretary said that you can go in. Ron was ready.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the door opening. Ron was there behind his desk. I was expecting, \u2018Morning Johnny. How are you? How\u2019s the family? Lovely weather out there. Welcome to McLaren\u2019. And the first words that came out of his mouth were, \u2018I need to change you for another driver\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that didn\u2019t really sort of go down very well in my mind. So within 10 seconds, I\u2019d already made up my mind. I couldn\u2019t work here with the team.<\/p>\n \u201cWe carried on. We discussed. Walked around the factory and everything else.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Ron, I have to say, and I think Mika Hakkinen is probably the best example I can use, where he moulded Mika into a little bit of a Ron, a little bit of Ayrton [Senna].<\/p>\n \u201cBut then that worked perfectly, because he supplied Mika what he needed from the team and the car to be able to produce what he did on the race track.\u201d<\/p>\n Herbert branded Dennis a \u201cvery complicated man, but you can\u2019t take anything away with what he achieved as a team principal.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Dennis\u2019 stewardship, McLaren won a total of 20 world championships.<\/p>\n Herbert explained how Dennis\u2019 accomplishments went beyond just the titles, though, to his mind.<\/p>\n Herbert continued: \u201cHe did some amazing, amazing championship wins. He always got the sponsors on board. He always looked after the sponsors.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, in many ways, what we see in the paddock of Formula 1 is what Ron created. He was so meticulous with everything that happened in the factory, but everything, and the look of what you had when you\u2019re in the paddock.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he was very special from that point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n