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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their method to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 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 make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear 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 season, either in qualifying or race.

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

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

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, 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 hoping the regulation changes 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 Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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