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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to managing the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"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 in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

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 recover. 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 regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and continue executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the outcome 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 Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

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 currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to understand 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 February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.