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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull 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 thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely 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 faring much better.

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 regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot 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 on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, 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 two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

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