Meet the McLaren F1 boss

Ahead of this year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone Newsbeat has been talking to Lewis Hamilton's F1 boss at McLaren-Mercedes, Ron Dennis. He's been in charge of the team since 1981 and has won seven Formula One constructors' championships since then, although the last one was in 1998.

After two disappointing races for McLaren in France and Canada, how confident are you that you can bounce back at Silverstone this weekend?

We're a very resilient team and there's an inevitability that things are going to happen that don't exactly fall the way that you would like them to be. Most people don't really appreciate how difficult the drivers' workload is. It's one of those things. You've got to put it behind you and focus on the next race.

There seems to be a happy balance this year with Heikki Kovalainen joining Lewis Hamilton in the team...

They're a very harmonious team. Heikki's very quick and keeps Lewis honest. They work very well together, very hard together and it's a real team and it's an enjoyment to work with both of them.

Do you think the Constructors' Championship will be closer this year with BMW closing in on Ferrari and McLaren?

I think Ferrari and ourselves still have a bit of an edge over BMW. I think circumstances play to BMW. But they're certainly getting more and more competitive. We'll just have to see how the rest of the season plays out. But there's no lack of effort coming from McLaren-Mercedes. We're very competitive and we'll fight all the way through to the last Grand Prix.

How would you explain what happens to the cars between races to make them perform better?

The set-up is something that you inevitably optimize for the characteristics of the circuit. But it's really the development of the car that makes the difference. We'll carry as many as 20 modifications to the car for every Grand Prix. And they're very small changes but together they normally deliver one or two 10ths of a second and that's our objective. To make the car two 10ths of a second quicker at every event.

Lewis Hamilton was on pole position last year at the British Grand Prix but it didn't go his way. How confident are you this year?

Confidence in motor sport is a weakness, it's not a strength. What we try to do is the best job everywhere and we'll go to Silverstone and do the best job we can. It won't mean that it's any less than what we put into the last event or last year's Silverstone. It'll just be the same effort, same commitment to be the best and if you're the best you win.

How much have you seen Lewis Hamilton progress this season?

It doesn't matter what age you are, you're always going to learn as you go through life. And of course Lewis isn't the exception. He puts a lot of effort into understanding the car better, working closer with the team and maintaining the same balanced approach to his motor racing and his life as a whole. Inevitably the learning curve for him is steeper now than it will be in two or three years time. But he's really risen to the challenge and he's a very complete individual and a very complete racing driver and it's a pleasure to work with him.

Ron Dennis was talking to Newsbeat sports reporter David Garrido.