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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

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

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

"This is the approach we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the 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 [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and 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 currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, 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 his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year 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 change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

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

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.