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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. 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?

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

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