🔗 Share this article

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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

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

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

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