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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This remains the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about 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 the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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