🔗 Share this article

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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus 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 stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running 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 initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

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