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Must McLaren Accept Reality 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 confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

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

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development 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 prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos 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 do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked 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 all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February 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 true and accurate situation will become clear.