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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 challenge they confront with Max 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 continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at 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 driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time 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 rules were modified.

The McLaren team started this year with the best car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Albon currently 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 not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed 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 Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; 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 change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 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 pre-season testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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