Can the McLaren team Continue Playing Fair and Stop Max Verstappen? - F1 Q&A

Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we intend competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season 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 missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

The McLaren team began this year with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct 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 significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths 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 Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning 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?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 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 only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.