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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this season with the fastest car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.