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

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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the way we intend competing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to 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 the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus 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 makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next season 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 Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes 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 sense of comparative speed emerges.

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