Will the McLaren team Keep Maintaining Fair Play and Stop Max Verstappen? - Formula 1 Questions and Answers

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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy 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 equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate 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 usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Lewis 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 consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

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

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.