Can McLaren Keep Playing Fair and Stop Max Verstappen? - F1 Q&A

Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to managing the team.

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

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"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 wins 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 year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

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

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't 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 fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked 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 many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

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

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

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.