🔗 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 challenge they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"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 actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim 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 ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

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

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

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