Parallels in diametrically different sports like, say, football and Formula One, are rarities that hardly ever surface.

But you can’t ever guarantee that the unusual will not happen — and it did this week in bringing former world grand prix champions McLaren into play with the football elite of Manchester United.

And, in an intruiging inevitability, the set-ups’ two most famous characters, Sir Alex Ferguson, the former United manager, and Ron Dennis, the reigning McLaren powerbroker, were vividly brought to mind.

I have had endless dealings, not always the most joyful, with both men over many years covering the activities of each of their world renowned charges.

But it was not until earlier this week that I connected the two and woke up to their distinguishing similarities — and that was when Dennis likened his team to Ferguson’s.

Both men are single-minded, driven by ambition, unbending, largely humourless and resolute in a charmless manner that overshadows any notion of friendliness, except when it suits their purposes business-wise or privately.

Dennis reveals that his F1 set-up, without a major paying-in partner since Vodafone split with McLaren in 2013, heads into the upcoming campaign still without a universal brand name to ease the massive financial burden faced by all the teams on the grand prix grid.

But, what is more remarkable, he insists he would rather be without a sponsor than undersell the space on his team’s car for the 19-race series under the world’s TV spotlight and its regular 350m audience opening in Australia next month

He stresses that the cost of competing, starting with a wage bill of some £30m-a-year (Dh169m) just for the drivers — Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, both ex-champions — is so vast that handing over title sponsorship rights is no longer feasible without selling it off too cheaply.

He points out: “Where the budgets are for competitive teams, no company or business will come in and give you the kind of money you need — between 40 and 50 per cent of a team’s financial requirements.” It costs around £200m-a-year to run a top team.

Thus far, the money-bags businesses have shied away from piling cash into the McLaren coffers and we outsiders will never know who and what sponsors made a bid for the showcase car exposure, only to be rejected by Dennis arguing against a shortfall.

But he remains hopeful and says: “We haven’t given up hope on the idea of attracting larger sums of money to our car. What we do not want to do is put big brand names on at low levels of income.”

Then he likens his team to Man United, still glorified if not table-topping right now and still a tempting target of admiration and exposure for the money men.

He says: “I feel a bit like Manchester United, who have had a run of awful football matches and results and have gone down the league. But I still think we are Manchester United. And I still believe we can come along and say ‘Will you sponsor us?’. After all, we are the Manchester United of Formula One.”

Incidentally, the Old Trafford sponsorship portfolio is running at around a mind-boggling £200m-a-year, with a £750m ten-year sports-gear deal just signed by the United hierarchy.

Maybe Dennis should cash in and rename his F1 challengers McLaren United.

— The writer is a freelance journalist and motorsport expert