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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe 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 equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to confront 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 significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear 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 Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now 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 great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 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 true and accurate picture will become clear.