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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This remains the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team 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 their grasp.

Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

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

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning 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 Red Bull 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 season design.

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

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

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted 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 driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.