🔗 Share this article

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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said 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 team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

Every team 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 rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning 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 - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

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

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying 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 it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed 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 benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

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

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

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