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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we plan competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes 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 - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look 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 failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently 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 Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.