Can the McLaren team Continue Playing Fair and Halt Max Verstappen? - F1 Questions and Answers

Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

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

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

"This is the approach we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. 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.

McLaren started this season with the fastest car, after putting 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 bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. 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 correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently 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 battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen 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 hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer 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 completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.