🔗 Share this article

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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case 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 get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car 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 execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.