Will the McLaren team Keep Playing Fair and Halt Max Verstappen? - F1 Questions and Answers

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their method to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong 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 the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, 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 straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential 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 another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to 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 tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred 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 becomes apparent.

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