Lewis Hamilton has responded to Ron Dennis after the McLaren boss questioned his lifestyle in a recent interview.
Hamilton was signed by McLaren at the age of 13 and Dennis oversaw much of his junior career before offering him an F1 drive in 2007 and guiding him to his first title in 2008. In 2013 Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes and was immediately given more freedom to pursue other interests away from the track.
But Dennis takes a dim view of Hamilton's well-publicised private life, saying in a recent interview: "If he was at McLaren he wouldn't be behaving the way he is because he wouldn't be allowed to".
Hamilton, who has won two titles since leaving McLaren, was asked for his response in Abu Dhabi this weekend and reiterated his belief that his private life helps his on-track performance more than it hinders it.
"I don't really have a response to it. I don't know why he is talking about me... maybe they don't have too many other positive things to talk about," he said in reference to McLaren's poor form this year.
"Ultimately that is probably why I am here and three time world champion. I think, even so, who I am today is who I am and I would behave this way regardless who I was working for. I don't think I behave wrongly, just because I do other things outside of the sport, I don't think it is a negative.
"It has been a positive impact on my career, so maybe it is not for me to be doing any changes."