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Do McLaren Face the Truth 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 drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, 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 title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend 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 recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on This Year's Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly 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 Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about 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 suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.