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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing 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 represents the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely 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 actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of for 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 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start 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 the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

McLaren started this year with the best car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car 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 flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant 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 Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.