McLaren F1 hero Ron Dennis gets knighthood for work since 'horrifying' discovery

29 December 2023 , 22:30

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Ron Dennis worked with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, along with many other F1 legends (Image: Getty Images)

Former McLaren chief Ron Dennis has been honoured with a knighthood.

Dennis worked for McLaren Racing for more than 35 years, while he was team principal of the Formula 1 outfit for 28 of them. During that time, he oversaw several championship successes alongside legendary drivers like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton.

But his knighthood in the New Years Honours list comes not from his work in motorsport, but for his efforts elsewhere. Dennis, 76, is to be knighted for services to industry and charity.

He is chairman and founder of Podium Analytics, which works with sports stars to help reduce injury. And he also helped to found Tommy's, a pregnancy charity that works to reduce complications and loss and support those who do experience those heartbreaking outcomes.

Dennis' work on the latter is motivated by his own experience, when he and his ex-wife Lisa lost a child of their own. Ron and Lisa have three other children from their 22-year marriage, which ended in 2008.

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Speaking to i, Dennis said it was "horrifying" to learn that one in four children conceived do not make it to full-term pregnancy. In the years since Tommy's was founded, thousands of children have been saved by their work and many more families supported.

Dennis said: "You just get an overwhelming sense of achievement. No matter how little you've [done], or whatever your role has been, you've made a difference. I'm in a position to make a difference and I seek nothing from it, other than to have a moment in a few years' time, where something as tangible as thousands of babies' lives saved materialises out of this initiative."

In a separate interview with Motor Sport magazine, he added: "In that area we really do know we are making a difference. I know something of the immense trauma for parents going through stillbirth and miscarriage, because Lisa and I lost a child through it."

Dennis' name is not the only one familiar to F1 fans to feature on the 2024 New Years Honours list. Christian Horner, already an OBE, will be made a CBE for his services to motorsport after overseeing one of the most dominant season in F1 history.

His Red Bull team won the 2023 title at a canter, winning all but one of the 22 races and smashing the record for most victories and points scored in a single campaign. It was the sixth constructors' championship success overseen by Horner since he took charge of the team in 2005.

Daniel Moxon