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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past 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 wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer 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 Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.