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

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race 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 closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, 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 fastest car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue delivering strong race 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 deliver a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both 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 fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred 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 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.