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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win 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 last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

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

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

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.