🔗 Share this article

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

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

They will persist to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

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

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella said after the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, 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 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 regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, 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 chance, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

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

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted 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 switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe 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 initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.