Can the McLaren team Keep Playing Fair and Stop Max Verstappen? - Formula 1 Q&A

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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all 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.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.