🔗 Share this article

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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the manner we intend competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix 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 determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period 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.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

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

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite 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.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis 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 venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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