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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. 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 began this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time 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 sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.