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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we plan racing. This is the method in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from under their noses.

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined 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 in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

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

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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 mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

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