While Jean Todt, Ferrari and others keep sticking pins into metaphorical Ron Dennis effigies, the McLaren chief will use the time to regroup.

The first steps came last Thursday when the team issued a statement at the behest of championship leader Lewis Hamilton, in which he (and they, finally) categorically denied that he used the F-word when speaking with Dennis on the radio after the controversial qualifying session in Hungary.

The fallout is still reverberating round the McLaren Technical Centre, where there is a danger the team may fracture into pro-Hamilton or pro-Alonso camps.

Dennis is already fighting an increasingly belligerent and sanctimonious Ferrari team, as well as a governing body that risks accusations of mounting a witch-hunt. Ferrari have launched an appeal against the World Motor Sport Council's decision from 26 July not to penalise McLaren even though chief designer Mike Coughlan was in possession of Ferrari's intellectual property.

Many believe the whole espionage thing is an excuse for Ferrari to try to destabilise McLaren in the world championship. Some question why Luigi Macaluso, the head of the Italian sporting authority (the CSAI), should be allowed to intervene on their behalf. Others question why, if McLaren are accused of culpability in the Coughlan Affair via collective responsibility, have Ferrari not been similarly treated given that Coughlan's sworn affidavit says that Stepney, while still a Ferrari employee, handed over secret information.

The last thing Dennis needs is aggravation with either Alonso, the double champion he lured from Renault, or Hamilton, his protege these past 10 years.

The break will do Hamilton good. Nobody has ever fought such opposition for the world title in their first year. He is under great pressure, which he has handled brilliantly.

Dennis, meanwhile, needs to make full use of the break not just to make sure his cars improve, but stabilise an inter-team situation that is close to the edge of control.