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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

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

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, 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 were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

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

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

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

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

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping 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 change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.