🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to running 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 represents the approach we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

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

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach 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 mathematics."

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

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

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

The McLaren team started this year with the best car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis 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 now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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