Following up on my recent article, McLaren to the Bottom of the Class, I see that the German newspaper, Bild, has come up with some reasons for McLaren's demotion to the end of the pit lane. It seems that the original agreement that McLaren be allocated number 5 pit was on the understanding that Ron Dennis was about to resign from his position as team boss at McLaren. Ron's decision to continue in charge of McLaren has apparently annoyed the FIA and it has repudiated its side of the agreement accordingly.

This does not solve the problem that, at some circuits, the facilities in the last pit space are insufficient to cope with McLaren's massive array of motorhome, equipment, etc. and some observers are suggesting that their pit slot will be altered according to the demands of each circuit. If that is so, the FIA are going to look very silly indeed as they shuffle the team from one pit to another throughout the season.

We should remember that this is Bild speaking, however. The story may or may not be true. If it is false, we are left wondering at the motivation behind the FIA's sudden change of heart and pondering what it may mean for the team in the future.

It the tale is true, however, we have cause to be concerned at the apparent admission that Ron Dennis is the target. We are all aware of the suggestions made during the McLaren hearings that the case was really about Max Mosley having the chance to express his dislike of Big Ron; no doubt we withheld judgement on that until proven. But this latest story adds to the suggestions - what other reason could explain the proviso that Ron resign as part of Bernie's pit allocation deal? The reference to Ron accepting the constructor's trophy in Melbourne as "podium antics" just adds fuel to this particular fire.

Personally, I don't believe the Bild story - yet. But it does increase my interest in seeing what happens next, especially if serious inconvenience is caused to the McLaren team as a result of having to accept the end pit. Some say that this may prove an advantage in that the cars will leave directly into the pitlane without having to pass other cars exiting their pits - but that is not really relevant to the cause of all this bouncing around. It might be wise for the FIA to explain their thinking in all of this, instead of giving these arbitrary and apparently contradictory orders from time to time.