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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to change their method to running the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix 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 decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the 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 claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the conundrum of 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 F1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

McLaren started this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions 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 four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging 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 hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.