Will McLaren Keep Playing Fair and Stop Verstappen? - Formula 1 Q&A

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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. 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 rules were modified.

McLaren began this season 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 experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, 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 favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.