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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we plan racing. This remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the 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 mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum 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 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren began this season with the best car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted 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 great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before 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 initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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