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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the approach we plan competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this year have had to confront 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 major regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

McLaren began this year with the fastest car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now 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 venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.