Can McLaren Keep Playing Fair and Halt Verstappen? - F1 Questions and Answers

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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

All teams this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped 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 now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 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.