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

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

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

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix 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 mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. 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 innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

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

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep delivering strong 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 execute a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. 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 question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

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

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.