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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren 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 modify their strategy to running the team.

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

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

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

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

McLaren began this season 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 evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting 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 driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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