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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as 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 the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, 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 make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren started this season with the best car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.