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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, 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 currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is now 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 Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

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

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.