🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the approach we plan competing. This is the method in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren started this year with the fastest car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep executing strong 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 performance."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

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

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes 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 sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.