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

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

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor 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 benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

McLaren began this season with the best car, after putting 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 compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

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

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

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

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

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