Will McLaren Continue Playing Fair and Halt Max Verstappen? - Formula 1 Q&A

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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

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

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, 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 rules were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and continue executing good 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 execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

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

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

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