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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 confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

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

"This is the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as race 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 title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

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

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change 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 benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. 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 Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.