Will McLaren Continue Playing Fair and Stop Max Verstappen? - F1 Questions and Answers

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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

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

And he lost the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

McLaren started this year with the best car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

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

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing next year.

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

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.