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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to running the team.

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

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren began 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 versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, 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 pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.