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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap 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 remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

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

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.