🔗 Share this article

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

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

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change 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 succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren started this year with the best car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering good race 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 deliver a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.