Can McLaren Keep Playing Fair and Halt Verstappen? - Formula 1 Questions and Answers

Must 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 confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall 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 championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change 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 rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, 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 switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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 say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.