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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to managing the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

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

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. 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 entirely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.