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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 difficulty they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, 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 make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma 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 scheduled for 2026.

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 catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times 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 last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Both 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 claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; 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 change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.