Can the McLaren team Keep Maintaining Fair Play and Halt Verstappen? - Formula 1 Q&A

Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

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

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we intend racing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from their grasp.

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

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

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

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically 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 get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently much closer 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 last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

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

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would 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 Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private 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 Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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