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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

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

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - 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 did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, 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 driver this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim 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 really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

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

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

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