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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren started this season with the fastest car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the outcome 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 entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about 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 Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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