Will the McLaren team Continue Playing Fair and Halt Max Verstappen? - Formula 1 Q&A

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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

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

"We must continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good 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 perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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 year. 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 moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.