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Do McLaren Accept Reality 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 Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

The McLaren team began this season with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

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

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle 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 F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.