🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their method to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from their grasp.

Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

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