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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

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

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

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances 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 mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually 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 Cease Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma 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 rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this year with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

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

"We must continue maximising the performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now 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, anyway.

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

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

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

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