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

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

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

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Stella said following the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing 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 easy decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren 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 following Leclerc.

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

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is consistently 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 Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - 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 great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it 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 expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred 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 initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.