Can the McLaren team Keep Playing Fair and Halt Verstappen? - F1 Questions and Answers

Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want 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 championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Stella stated following the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, 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 close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the best car, after investing 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 getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep 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 flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season 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, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying 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 last weekend in Texas, on one of 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 race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

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 suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.