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

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

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually 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?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

McLaren started this season with the best 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 getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and continue executing strong 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 deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

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

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim 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 really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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