🔗 Share this article

Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both 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 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.

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

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.