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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

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

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now 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, anyway.

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

He is now 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 Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes 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 sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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