Will McLaren Continue Playing Fair and Stop Max Verstappen? - F1 Q&A

Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

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

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. 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 rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now look 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, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

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 battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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