May 2 (GMM) World champion Lewis Hamilton's absence this week from an awards ceremony was a blatant "snub" of his former mentor and boss Ron Dennis, British newspapers report.
61-year-old Dennis, who recently stepped back completely from the formula one arms of the McLaren Group, was honoured with a lifetime achievement trophy on Thursday by the organisers of the Sport Industry Awards.Ultimately, it was former McLaren champions Mika Hakkinen and Alain Prost who presented the Briton with the prize, while the reservation for a table of ten representatives of McLaren Racing was withdrawn because no-one from the Woking based team confirmed the booking.2009 championship leader Jenson Button did attend."Hamilton had indicated that he would attend but pulled out on Wednesday morning," a report in the Daily Telegraph claimed. "It is understood that it was a personal decision by Hamilton rather than one made by the team."In the Daily Mail, however, a McLaren representative was quoted as saying the affair is "all very political", perhaps an allusion to the rumoured link between Dennis' departure and the lie-gate scandal.
