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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their method 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 fairness and balance.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult 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 particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, 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 F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are performing next year.

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.