🔗 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 well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, 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 close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

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

The first test, in Catalunya 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 pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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