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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this season have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled 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 get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

The McLaren team began this year 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 experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.