450SEL6.9

Baseball caps stopped Schumi joining McLaren
Monday 23rd April 2007

Ron Dennis has revealed that he was on the brink of luring Michael Schumacher to McLaren at the turn of the millennium - only for the proposed move to be shelved over a dispute about baseball caps.

The German, the most successful driver in the history of F1, spent the last ten years of his career at Ferrari before retiring at the end of the 2006 campaign. However, Dennis has now revealed that he almost managed to bring Schumi to Woking mid-way through his stint in Italy.

"He and I met, in Monte Carlo, quite a few years ago, specifically to discuss the possibility of his joining the team. The meeting followed an informal chat we'd had a the Log Cabin [at Suzuka]," the McLaren boss told F1-Racing magazine.

"Off the top of my head, I can't remember [when it was], but I'd say 1998, 1999 or 2000."

Asked why the transfer failed to materialise, Dennis replied: "Clearly, neither his ability as a driver, nor our quality as a team, was an issue. The size of his retainer wasn't an issue, either. The issue was more what I'd call peripheral financial issues."

Pressed exactly on what these 'peripheral financial issues' were, and whether he meant 'logos on caps, which Ferrari allowed Schumacher to sell for a vast sum, but which McLaren never allow their drivers to do?', Dennis responded: "Yes, things like that. But I guess some things just aren't meant to happen."

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Imhotep Evil

You beat me to it.
Ron Dennis also offered Damon Hill a race drive for 1998 but on the basis that he would only get paid whenever he won a race.

Speedster

Wow, thats amazing. All over a baseball cap eh! Would have saved me a lot of money! I think i own most of his Ferrari caps

450SEL6.9

A baseball cap worth tens of millions! Schu sold the space on his cap for a hefty sum. However, the real big money probably came from those Dekra and later DVAG hats being sold through the Michael Schumacher Collection. I contributed my share to his profits. I own the Dekra 1998, 1999 hats and all the DVAG hats up until 2005. For the years that Schu won the WDC, I bought the special edition hats also.

IE, I'm surprised I beat you to this one. You're usually the fastest with these new F1-related threads. I didn't know that Damon Hill was offered a pay-per-win contract.

I think this helps confirm the fact that Mclaren does not allow drivers to earn money from personal endorsements outside of the team. The article suggested that Mclaren never allows such things. Which begs the question, How long can Mclaren keep Lewis "The Biggest Thing EVER in F1, Potentially The Greatest of All-Time After Three Races" Hamilton?

Imhotep Evil

From what I've heard on other forums, it appears he possibly allowed Senna to use a personal sponsor(NACIONAL).
But from that moment on ...

Also what if Hamilton landed <insert big name here> as his personal sponsor?
With Alonso Telefonica withdrew Renault sponsorship, but Santander becamed a big McLaren sponsor next to Vodafone.

450SEL6.9

I don't know if Mclaren's contract with Hamy would allow him or his management team to go out and court a personal sponsor. If he is under an iron-clad long-term deal, the team doesn't need to bargain with him. Since Mclaren has reputedly spent 10 million developing him, I would think they have him locked up for a very, very long time.

Still, Hamilton's marketing value is huge. Would he want to miss out on Schumacher-type money? Wth guys like Jackie Stewart dispensing free advice to him in the press, how can he refuse?

I just hope Mclaren doesn't change their policies too easily because many people think their ability to keep sponsors happy is critical to their success. I really don't know what Ron would do if a multibillion dollar company insisted on sponsoring Lewis. Could the team tell them to take a piss and sponsor some other bloke?

Imhotep Evil

Why Ron could tell them to get in line (Vodafone, Santander, J. Walker, Siemens
...).
Ofcourse, ,they could always go to Renault (unless they're a ING competitor).

Hamy could get a raise if he performs good, but an endorsment ?!

Ofcourse he's Alonso, Schumi, Prost, Senna, Clark, Fangio and Jesus Christ all packed into one.

450SEL6.9

I think Senna wore the Nacional cap out of loyalty more than anything. They were with him from the beginning and I imagine a man like Senna wanted to stick with them all the way through. I believe Nacional ran into severe financial problems and had to be reorganized in the mid 1990s.

I read about a Japanese company wanting to pay Senna a huge sum to endorse him, but he politely turned them down. If memory serves, it was during the late 1980s, when the Japanese economy was in a bubble. Since Senna was and still is revered in Japan, several companies wanted to probably sponsor him.

The official F1 website claims that Senna had a personal fortune of $400 million when he died, but he had extensive business interests in Brazil.

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