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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 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 missed out on the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

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

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, 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 media.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.