Ron Dennis says reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton "wouldn't be allowed" to live his current lifestyle were he still at McLaren.
Hamilton wrapped up his third world championship in Austin this year but has made no secret of his partying activities away from the race track this season. This was never in sharper focus than at the Brazilian Grand Prix, when the Mercedes driver arrived late after a fever and minor car crash in Monaco he put down to a week of heavy partying.
Since leaving McLaren Hamilton has been afforded much more freedom, something many observers have credited with his form and temperament in his three seasons at Brackley. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff recently said Hamilton should be "given a break" about his private life as he is delivering results on the race track.
However, McLaren CEO Dennis, the man who Hamilton famously approached at an awards show aged 10 to ask for a future Formula One drive before being signed three years later, says there would be no chance of the world champion doing similar if he were still at his boyhood team.
"If he was at McLaren he wouldn't be behaving the way he is because he wouldn't be allowed to," Dennis is quoted as saying by the Guardian. "He's shaking off some chains he didn't want to have."
Hamilton's time at McLaren was mixed -- he enjoyed a breakthrough rookie campaign in 2007 and won the world championship in 2008, but lost the title through driver errors in 2010 and endured an erratic season in 2011 following a split from his father as manager. Dennis went on to explain Hamilton occasionally "went off the rails" because he gave up a large chunk of his childhood to reach Formula One.
Asked if he now viewed his former protégé as a "dirty word", Dennis replied: "No, of course not. I look at him with mixed emotions ... It was an interesting experience for everybody and it wasn't completely smooth and harmonious, and I don't approve of everything he does or says.
"But, nevertheless, great athletes are great because of the sacrifices they have to make. And sometimes sacrifices are in a very formative part of their childhood [so] they don't always emerge with the all the right social process or behaviour or tendencies that you like."
Hamilton remains the last McLaren driver to win the world championship. The team has not had a victory since his last race at the team, when Jenson Button won the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. By contrast, Hamilton has won 22 races and two world championships since making the switch.