🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

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

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This represents the way we intend competing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

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

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.