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

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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

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

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

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

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

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles 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 behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - 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 get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.