🔗 Share this article

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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

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