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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case 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 benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, 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 difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

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

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

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