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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma 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 rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing 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 car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of 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 say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

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

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.