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

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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, 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 make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed 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 the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; 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 Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.