🔗 Share this article

Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their method to running the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 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 title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, 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 recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, 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 year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando 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 suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.