🔗 Share this article

Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

McLaren began this season with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development 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 achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines 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 indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will become clear.