Can McLaren Keep Playing Fair and Stop Verstappen? - Formula 1 Questions and Answers

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their approach to running the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend racing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella stated after 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 team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult 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 slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex 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 regularly, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently 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 lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

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

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

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