Will McLaren Continue Maintaining Fair Play and Halt Verstappen? - Formula 1 Questions and Answers

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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to running the team.

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

"This is the way we intend competing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

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

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

Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 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 mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of 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 chance, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

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

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines 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 some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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