🔗 Share this article

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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

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

And he missed out on 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 enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

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

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

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

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

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

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors 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 initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.