🔗 Share this article

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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

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

"This is the way we intend 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 Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to 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 mathematics."

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

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes 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 regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. 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 first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

Both Lewis 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 now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

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