🔗 Share this article

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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many 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 Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

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 long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

McLaren started this year with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car 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 didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.