🔗 Share this article

Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

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

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result 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 Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently 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 really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well 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 most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will become clear.