Will McLaren Continue Playing Fair and Stop Max Verstappen? - Formula 1 Questions and Answers

Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter 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 represents the approach we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella stated following the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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 it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.