Lewis Hamilton was delighted to silence the doubters when he claimed the Formula One world championship with Mercedes this year.
Hamilton ended a 15-year relationship with McLaren to move to the silver arrows in 2013, with many questioning his wisdom in leaving a team where he had won a world title in 2008.
The 29-year-old finished fourth in his debut season with Mercedes but the team were utterly dominant in 2014 with Hamilton edging out team-mate Nico Rosberg to claim a second world crown and vindicate his switch.
"I met Ron (Dennis) when I was 10, signed when I was 13, won the world championship with that team, after I told him when I was 10 that I wanted to win the championship with them, and won the championship with them in 2008," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"We went through a huge amount together and at the time I felt that I'd done enough, I'd learnt enough there and I didn't know there was really much more for me to continue with and I wanted to try something new.
"It was a huge change in my life but one that I really enjoyed.
"People were so negative about the choice. It's almost like everyone felt, in their experience, they knew everything that was right but I had all the information.
"I knew what Mercedes was planning on doing. Ross (Brawn) sat down with me, explained it to me several times and I was like 'Mercedes Benz do not know how to lose as a company'. So that's a good place to go."
He added: "I think this is probably the closest I have been with my group and I think, just being a little bit older, this is the best I've ever worked with a team. Us guys, we work so closely together."
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