🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.