🔗 Share this article

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

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

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the championship as race 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 McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

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

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

All teams this year have had to face 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 rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - 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 get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.