🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we intend competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. 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 win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

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

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

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

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season 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 all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.