🔗 Share this article

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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

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

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

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

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

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

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.