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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their method to running the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

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

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren 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 major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to improve 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 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 car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult 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 Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.