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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their strategy to running the team.

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

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella said following the race 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 decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

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

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

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

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.