In the next part of Pit Debrief‘s exclusive interview with legendary F1 engineer Steve Hallam, we discussed what it was like to work with Ron Dennis at McLaren.
Ron Dennis has incredibly successful career as team boss at McLaren F1
From 1981 through to early 2009, Ron Dennis was the boss at McLaren Racing. He led to team to plenty of glory in his 28-year spell as the Brit made them a big and genuine force in the sport.
The team won seven Constructors’ Championships, with ten titles claimed in the Drivers’ Championship. McLaren won their first title since he departed by taking out the 2024 Constructors’ Championship at the Abu Dhabi GP last December.
The now 77-year-old worked with some true F1 GOATs: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, and Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time World Champion and F1’s most successful ever driver won his first title at McLaren in 2008, Dennis’ final race in the role of team principal.
Hallam joined McLaren in 1991 after nine years at Lotus. He would go on to work closely with Ron Dennis for 17 years before he started a new adventure in the United States as director of race engineering at Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCAR.
Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley has shared many stories over the years, including what it was like to work under Ron Dennis.
Steve Hallam praises Ron Dennis for his leadership during their time together at McLaren F1
Working initially as a race engineer for multiple drivers including future World Champion Mika Häkkinen, Hallam was promoted to the Chief Engineer position at McLaren F1. It was a role he held for a decade before his new adventure.
Steve Hallam had nothing but praise for Ron Dennis and how he ran things at McLaren F1, as well as how good he was to him before his exit from the team at the end of the 2008 season.
He explained his loyalty and appreciation for Dennis meant he could never go to another team in F1.
“I can only speak from 1991 through to the end of 2008.
“He was very inspirational to me in my later career.
“I really enjoyed my time at McLaren. I liked the structure, I liked Ron’s view of how things should be, and I liked the way he was as a human being to not just me, but to everybody.
“One of the reasons, when I left McLaren, I was actually sitting in Ron’s office, and we were having a conversation just before I left. Ron was just giving me some advice, I was coming over here to North America.
“I don’t think I told this to him, but he may have known it anyway — there was no way I was going to go to another Formula One team and race against him.
“He had done so much for me, personally and professionally, that I wasn’t going to be one of those people that just jumped to another team, changed clothes and appeared in the pit lane to race against him. That wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
Steve Hallam and his many adventures post-F1
After nearly three decades in Formula 1, Steve Hallam went over to the United States to work in NASCAR as previously mentioned.
He moved to Australia to work in V8 Supercars, including a couple of seasons with current NASCAR star and two-time V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen at Tekno Autosports. It was a very small squad that punched well above its weight.
Hallam is based in California these days as he works for Toyota Racing Development. The Brit passionately explained how his love for Motorsport keeps energising him to stay around it into his 70s.
“It’s a personal thing that was good for me [on the initial move to NASCAR].
“I did 27 years in total in Formula One, 9 years with Team Lotus, and 18 years with McLaren. Thoroughly enjoyed every moment, some tough moments, and there were some great moments.
“I’ve often said to people that have asked me, ‘what is it from motor racing that’s kept you in the sport for so long?’ I said, ‘well, when you compare life to normal people, the highs in motorsport are very high, and the lows can be very low, but the main above the average.’
“That’s cool for me, and that’s why I do what I do.”
