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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their method to running the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend competing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of 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 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently 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 previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult 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 season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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