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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren began this season with the fastest car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise 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 someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing 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.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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