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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

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

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, 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 determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to 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 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case 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 get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 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 remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; 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 Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.