🔗 Share this article

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race 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 Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result 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 Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now look 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.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, 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.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

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

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.